Michel Boujenah Movies

Directed by Michel Boujenah, Pere et Fils (Father and Son) centers around retired traveling salesman Leo Serano's (Philippe Noiret) decision to become closer to his three children, albeit late in life. Leo's first son, David (Charles Berling), is a longtime overachiever who runs his own plumbing fixtures company and employs his youngest brother, Simon (Pascal Elbe), in the warehouse. Pot-smoking Simon is blissfully unconcerned when it comes to the intricacies of his family, but David hasn't spoken to his unemployed brother Max (Bruno Putzulu) in years, and isn't particularly keen to build a relationship with his long absent father. However, when Leo convinces the trio that he's slated for a risky heart surgery in a couple of weeks -- in fact, Leo's physician had declared him perfectly healthy -- the broken family decides to take a spontaneous trip to Montreal. The film also features Marie Tifo, Genevieve Brouillette, Pierre Lebeau, Jacques Boudet, and Matthieu Boujenah. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

French TV star Nagui, described by Variety as "popular for his lowbrow-Letterman approach," portrays Zak, who learns about "the curse of Onan" experienced by males in his family. If Zak does not impregnate a woman before his 33rd birthday, the joys of sex evaporate forever. However, Zak's interest in married women creates a roadblock. Even his current girlfriend, art auctioneer Florence (Cristiana Reali) is a married mother of triplets. So Zak's rabbi cousin Joseph (Thomas Langmann) fixes him up with an attractive supermodel (Joanna Rhodes). It's a race against time before permanent impotence strikes. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Misunderstandings create romantic mayhem in this French comedy. Joanna Martin is an investigative television reporter who has lived happily with prominent lawyer Samuel Bosquier for over 15 years. The trouble begins when her station assigns Joanna to investigate the phony marriage/immigration racket. Wanting to prove that such bogus unions are absurdly easy to obtain, she steals the identity of her sister (a spinster) and 'marries" Pavel, a recently emigrated Hungarian laborer. Unfortunately, she says nothing of her assignment to Samuel. He never would have found out had he not run across a letter she had written on behalf of a colleague to help her escape her abusive husband. Reading the letter, poor Samuel begins believing that his beloved Joanna has been untrue. He suffers a breakdown and begins getting in trouble with the law. At the same time, Joanna develops her own problems when a government official begins suspects the reporter's marriage to Pavel is a sham. The dogged official so badgers them, they the two stage an elaborate scenario to prove themselves bonafide spouses. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Not a strict adaptation of the oft-filmed Victor Hugo classic, director Claude Lelouch's ambitious epic instead focuses on the story of two men, a father and a son, whose life stories bear striking similarities to Hugo's character Jean Valjean. The father is Henri Fortin (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a chauffeur (in 1900) wrongly accused of his employer's murder. Like Valjean, he is subjected to a harsh and unfair prison sentence. While Henri vainly attempts to escape his unjust fate, his family suffers, with his wife forced to raise their young son alone. The film jumps ahead several decades to show the adult life of this son (also Belmondo), a former boxer turned furniture mover who agrees to help smuggle a Jewish lawyer (Michel Boujenah) out of France during the Nazi occupation. Along the way, the lawyer reads to the younger Fortin from Les Misérables, and Fortin begins to imagine himself in the role of Jean Valjean, on the run from the obsessive Inspector Javert. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Bajou (Michel Boujenah) is an enterprising, talented man. He has risen from poor, humble beginnings, and thanks to a gift for mathematics, a willingness to work hard and occasionally cut corners, he is now a wealthy, successful man. He is a careful man in most respects, and does not generally throw his considerable weight around as a Jew in the Muslim country of Tunisia. However, he wants to start a family, and has determined that the beautiful Habiba (Delphine Forest) would make the perfect wife. It doesn't matter to him much that she is not interested in him, or in starting a family. Unfortunately for him, although he can win legal access to her person through buying her marriage contract from her father and driving off her lover, he cannot win her heart. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The new owners of a country estate only received it recently, in an inheritance from their grandmother, but they have known it since childhood. Arthur (Michel Boujenah) is an architect and deal-maker. He wants to replace it with a housing development. His cousin Sarah (Zabou) wants it left just as it is, for she has fond memories of it. In fact, they are arguing almost like an old married couple. In this comedy, there is a chance that they will become just that. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This thriller concerns Freddy (Michel Boujenah), the unsophisticated manager of a porno theater who has fallen in love with the young striptease artist who supplies entertainment between hardcore films. But unknown to Freddy, she is also involved in a drug ring. One day Freddy is shot during a hold-up and is hospitalized. An inept and amusing police inspector checks out the crime scene, though he's no protection when drug dealers show up to ask Freddy what happened with their last shipment. It seems a valuable drugs shipment has come up missing; although Freddy has no clue at first, he starts to figure out who might have the dope, and gets in way over his head. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A trio of inept bachelors receives an unexpected lesson in the challenges of fatherhood when a young infant turns up on their doorstep in this popular, appealing French comedy. The child was unknowingly fathered by one of the roommates, but the mother, who had relationships with each man, leaves no hint as to which one is the father. Even worse, she's flown off to America, meaning the clueless Pierre, Jacques, and Michel must work together to take care of the adorable infant. As one might expect, most of the film's comedy concerns the men's reluctant adaptation to fatherhood, as they become increasingly attached to the child and compete to become the best father. The film's good-natured if familiar humor was welcomed with strong box office, numerous award nominations, and an American remake, Three Men and a Baby. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

With comedy sequences that wobble between parody and sentiment, director Marc-Andre Grynbaum has attempted to present the story of a young Jewish man who starts a rock group ("Rock and Torah") and achieves success. That is because he is actually an incarnation of a Biblical patriarch who was once enthused by music more than by the sculpting of holy icons, and for some reason, deserves musical success in modern Paris. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The main distinguishing feature of this comedy could be its long title, perhaps the longest in cinematic history. Director Jan Saint-Hamont follows up his 1979 film about a European-Algerian family with the same ethnic focus here. This time around the "Pied-Noirs," or French-Algerians, are represented by a successful businessman and his family. The ineptly tyrannical patriarch proves to be too much for his wife, and she reacts in a distinctly non-traditional manner. For most viewers, the success of the earlier film is not quite duplicated in this second effort. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide