Pascal Aubier Movies

Vincent (Jacques Bidou, producer of Raoul Peck's Lumumba and several other films, making his acting debut) lives in a little French town, filled with eccentrics, and he follows the same routine, day in and day out. Up at five a.m. every morning, he takes the car to the bus to work, where he and his co-workers enjoy smoking a cigarette during the ten-second walk from the bus to the chemical plant gate. There the dreariness continues. He gets no satisfaction from his work, and none from his home life, where his wife (Anne Kravz-Tarnavsky) nags him, his older son, Nicolas (Dato Tarielashvili), ignores him and his younger son, Gaston (Adrien Paschod), gets into mischief. All Vincent wants to do is relax and paint, but he rarely gets the time. One day, instead of putting his cigarette out and going to work, he walks away from the plant and enjoys his smoke. He then goes to visit his father (Radslav Kinski), who encourages him to take a trip to Venice and visit an old friend of the family. In Venice, Vincent is robbed. He meets his father's old friend, Enzo di Martino (played by the writer-director of the film, Otar Iosseliani), a vainglorious fallen nobleman who goes to great lengths to impress his guest. Vincent also meets and befriends Carlo (Arrigo Mozzo), who turns out to lead a remarkably similar life. Iosseliani won the Silver Bear at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival for his direction of Monday Morning; the film was also shown at the 2002 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Otar Iosseliani's comedy of manners is about eccentric old ladies and the equally eccentric guests who visit the ladies' mansion in a Parisian suburb. Though the picture's surrealistic touch, deliberately unhurried pace, and attention to detail are reminiscent of the later works of Luis Buñuel, Iosseliani is certainly an artist in his own right. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

A diverse group of guests gather in a small hotel in Paris to contemplate the state of their lives in this pretentious drama. Joseph Goldman (Fernando Rey) is a washed-up Hollywood actor making a living in the dinner-theater circuit. Accompanied by his wife Sarah (Carola Regnier), Goldman meets Frederique (Berangere Bonvoisin), who is hiding from her former lover. French financier Arthur (Fabrice Luchini) hopes to get into the film industry and bends the ear of a British director (Michael Medwin). The talkative film has little action, and none of the characters evoke much interest or resolve their dilemma. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Flashback, Les Petits Coins, La Cendre, L'Apparition, La Mort du Rat and Sauteuse de L'ange are brought together in this collection of work by Pascal Aubier. ~ All Movie Guide

This documentary is an ironic exploration of faith versus ignorance. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

The members of a singles' dinner club meet once a week to talk about their difficulties and help one another out with their lives, with romance, and whatever seems appropriate. In this movie, their dinners are featured, and vignettes of the participants' lives put their encounters into a larger perspective. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A disillusioned worker laments over his low-paying job and his wife's constant appetite for money and career advancement. Raoul (Jacques Charrier) goes on a spending binge, passing bad checks to buy an American sportscar and other items. Later, a wealthy American offers him a job and makes eyes towards his wife. Leaving a fancy restaurant, he contemplate suicide by crashing his car. He is irritated by social-climbing hippies and hangers-on who try to position themselves for a rich lifestyle with no intention of working for it. His wife is enamored with a female friend and he suspects the two women of having a lesbian affair as his dissatisfaction with the daily grind of making a living takes its toll. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The bizarre hallucinations of a heroin addict in withdrawal provide the basis for this unstructured, autobiographical film by director Conrad Rooks. It begins as he arrives strung-out in Paris for a sleep-cure. As the strange visions begin, the story jumps haphazardly between reality and his dream-world memories of growing up in Chappaqua, New York. The score was composed and played by sitarist Ravi Shankar. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide