Claude Brasseur Movies

Jean-Jacques Annaud directed and co-wrote this wildly offbeat comic fantasy set in an ancient land in the Aegean Sea thousands of years ago. Minor (José Garcia) was abandoned by his parents as a child and was raised by a pack of pigs; he speaks in porcine grunts and lives and loves much like his fellow hogs. Minor is just human enough to have his head turned by Clytia (Melanie Bernier), a beautiful girl living in the nearby village. However, if Minor's lack of social skills weren't enough to keep Clytia away, she's already been pledged to wed handsome and charming Karkos (Sergio Peris-Mencheta). When Minor runs afoul of the tribal leadership, he's removed from his home with the pigs and forced to live in an enchanted forest, where he attracts the not entirely welcome attentions of Pan (Vincent Cassel), a randy half-man and half-goat willing to couple with anything that breathes. When Minor emerges from the forest able to speak with newfound eloquence, the tribal leaders name him their new potentate, and Clytia suddenly finds him a great deal more appealing, which doesn't sit well with Karkos. Sa Majesté Minor (aka His Majesty Minor) was written by Annaud and his frequent collaborator Gérard Brach, who died shortly after the film began shooting. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A fresh-faced orphan from the provinces labors away at the last old-fashioned café on Avenue Montaigne as the Paris theater elite prepare for the biggest night of the year in Jet Lag director Danièle Thompson's whirlwind comedy of intersecting lives. Jessica (Cécile De France) may have been orphaned at the tender age of four, but her doting grandmother (Suzanne Flon) did her best to bring the motherless girl up right. A one-time ladies' room attendant at The Ritz, Jessica's grandmother was a woman well known for her extraordinary taste. Upon arriving in Paris to work as a waitress at a modest café nestled between a renowned concert hall, a venerable theater, and a high-profile auction house, Jessica soon finds herself interacting with a curious cross section of the thriving entertainment industry. As rehearsals for the upcoming shows get under way and Jessica is assigned the task of delivering food to the hardworking actors and low-earning stagehands, she soon discovers that even the most famous of people are often forced to make difficult decisions in life.

Jean-François Lefort (Albert Dupontel) is a classical pianist whose devoted wife has him booked at venues across Europe for the next six years. As the free-spirited musician struggles to eschew the formality of his upcoming concert appearance, self-made businessman Jacques Grumberg (Claude Brasseur) takes time out from his May-December romance and his stressful medical treatment in order to auction off a collection that he has been building his entire life and reach out to his estranged intellectual son, Frédéric (Christopher Thompson). Meanwhile, back on the theater front, popular television actress Catherine Versen (Valérie Lemercier) prepares to star in a farcical play, a famous American film director (Sydney Pollack) begins auditioning actors for an upcoming film about Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and a cheerful concierge on the verge of retirement (Dani) enjoys her final stint rubbing elbows with the biggest and brightest stars in Paris. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The comedy Chouchou has a cross-dressing gay immigrant as a main character. Chouchou (Gad Elmaleh) arrives illegally in Paris, where he finds a home thanks to a pair of kindly priests. He eventually finds work with a parishioner who allows him to clean her house while dressed in women's clothing. Soon Chouchou is working at night at a local club where he falls for Stainslas (Alain Chabat), who introduces Chouchou to his parents. Chouchou's illegal residency may be the hurdle that the couple cannot clear on their way to happiness. The film was adapted from a one-man play originally written and performed by Elmaleh. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Bullfighting runs in the family in writer/director Eric Barbier's tale of a rising young corrida star whose promising career is cut tragically short. Manuel Balestera (Oliver Martinez) was a natural star in the ring until a fateful miscalculation sent his life into a downward spiral. Later, after being convicted of drug trafficking and spending to two years behind bars, Manuel travels to his hometown to discover that his father has accrued a sizable debt from the local crime kingpin. Subsequently realizing that the only way to save his father is to step back into the ring and face his greatest fear, the man who once swore never to battle a bull again must finally live up to his true potential or risk seeing his father perish at the hands of ruthless gangsters. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This French romantic comedy-drama concerns Claude Langmann (Claude Berri, who is also the director) a middle-aged auctioneer who is in a loving marriage with his second wife of 15 years. Though he is deeply in love with his wife and has remained faithful to her, he finds himself unable to perform in bed. His wife says she is satisfied with Claude's love and tenderness, but he visits a sex specialist anyway. There he learns of Viagra, which is not yet approved in France, though it is available in Switzerland over the counter. Soon Claude is on his way to Geneva, and eager to prove his manhood, tries to bed Agnes, his very attractive and very available assistant. His daughter, who also comes along for the trip, interferes with her own problems. La Debandade is a lightly funny, touching looking at male sexuality during life's later years. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This is a psychological drama about Louis Riquier (Charles Berling), a veteran of the Algerian war and a divorced father whose wife (Beatrice Palme) has custody of their children and who barricades himself with the kids in his country house. The police and the press surround the house, but he does not want to surrender. Instead, he gets more and more violent. Manipulated by their father, the kids go along with the scenario, taking it as a game. The film has as background the turbulence of 1968, with all its left-wing political implications. As in the director's previous film (Vieux fusil (The Old Gun), the gun also has multiple purposes here. Literally speaking, it is the instrument of crime; metaphorically, it is the force that would liberate the poor victim from his tragic fate. But the hero is just too violent and emotionally disturbed to evoke one's pity. The film is heavy with many denunciations, trying to evoke the atmosphere of the early 1970's, but it loses its impact when it abandons character development in favor of political jargon and becomes only an imperfect copy of an important period in French history. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

The film is based on a true story of a young actor, Robert Hugues Lambert, who was hired to play the role of aviation hero Mermoz in occupied France during WW II. But his career came to a brutal end when his homosexuality was discovered and he was sent to a Nazi camp. The Vichy government's directive to bring to screen edifying films based on national myths, such as Charlemagne or Joan of Arc, led one producer to decide to make a film about Mermoz, an airmail pioneer who perished at the height of his fame, crashing in 1936. This symbolic figure was also an activist in an extreme rightwing party, the vice-president of a movement known as 'The Crosses of Fire.' Lambert, a relatively obscure theatre actor was hired for his physical resemblance. Another actor was hired to complete the film, but the sound crew managed to smuggle a microphone through the barbed wires to get a recording of Lambert's voice. The film had its premiere in Paris, but Lambert was shipped to Auschwitz, never to return. Based on this story, Jean Claude Grumberg wrote a fictional comedy about making a film during the Occupation. He decided that only a comedy could narrate the way most French people went about their business with their heads in the sand during the Occupation, seeking refuge in derivative comedy. The film's light tone, however, changes dramatically at the end when Lambert is taken away. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

Adultery and the possibility of patricide provide the motives behind this French drama, set in a Parisian suburb. Claire is in her earlier forties and is married to Claude, an alcoholic whom she once passionately loved. Together they have a young daughter and 15-year old Guillaume. Claire is having an affair with 24-year old Laurent whom she sees several times per week. Laurent's mother is Madeleine. She and Claire were once rivals for the formerly dashing Claude. Guillaume is an aficionado of detective novels and has a real affinity for detective work. He is well aware of his mother's shenanigans. Claude hasn't a clue. Then a local police inspector tells Claude the truth about his wife. Soon after, Claude is discovered dead. Apparently the cop had his own reasons for giving Claude the fatal news. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Spino (Claude Brasseur) is in his late middle age, working as a mere attendant at the morgue. One day the corpse of a murdered man comes in which shocks him into a frenzy of activity: it looks exactly the way he looked as a young man, right down to the clothing. He enlists the help of his unusually patient girlfriend and her brother, who is a police inspector, to find out the origins of this disturbing corpse. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this comedy, veterinarian Henri Sauveur (Jean Rochefort) maintains his dignity and calm in the face of an incredible number of irritating or even genuinely upsetting encounters with inveterate pains-in-the-neck. He suffers from the rudeness (and worse) of Parisian drivers, his relatives, and friends and clients. All the same, he manages to convey an admirable appearance of insouciance and a devil-may-care attitude. That is, until he meets the redoubtable Louise Sherry (Miou-Miou). He is so smitten with her charms that his artfully maintained defenses crumble pitifully, and he is reduced to confiding his troubles to a bemused but sympathetic female chimpanzee. This fast-paced comedy features some of France's best-loved actors and comedians, including Claude Brasseur, Jean Yanne, and Jacques Villeret) in walk-on performances. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In the Dancing Machine, Alain Delon is Alan Wolf, a former great name in the world of dance, who has been forced by injuries to retire and become an instructor. He trains talented young people who hope for a career as dancers. In particular, despite an incredibly harsh and demanding demeanor, he wins the fanatical adoration of his female students. Indeed, so ardent is their worship of him that when they are dismissed from his studio for artistic shortcomings, many of them become suicidally despondent. One of them actually dances herself to death outside the window to his home. As deaths among his students begin to accumulate, Inspector Eparvier (Claude Brasseur) begins an investigation. Is Wolf simply a cold-blooded and apparently misogynistic manipulator, or is he deliberately bringing about these deaths? ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi