Philippe Carcassonne Movies

In this interestingly amiable French comedy, a stuttering would-be actor with a nervous tic auditions for a variety of film jobs ranging from parts in industrial films, to commercials. The overly earnest fellow has no idea that those he comes in contact with find him hilarious but are too kind-hearted to tell him the truth. When the fellow is not auditioning, he is taking mind-numbingly dull claims for clients at an insurance agency. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The many ways in which men are fascinated, compelled, and confused by their attraction to women are explored in this four part drama. As a filmmaker (John Malkovich) tries to sort out his plans for his next film, he considers several stories about women and the men who love them. Silvano (Kim Rossi Stuart) meets Carmen (Ines Sastre) and immediately asks her for a date, but despite his attraction, he can't follow through on his feelings for her. The director spies a woman on the streets (Sophie Marceau) and follows her obsessively, but when he finally meets her, he's disappointed, despite their mutual physical attraction. Roberto (Peter Weller) and his wife Patricia (Fanny Ardant) have to deal with their anger about each other's infidelities, as well as their problems with their lovers, Olga (Chiara Caselli) and Carlo (Jean Reno). And Niccolo (Vincent Perez) falls in love at first sight with a young woman (Irene Jacob), unaware that she is studying to become a nun. Par-Dela Les Nuages was Michelangelo Antonioni's first film after a massive stroke derailed his directorial career in 1985; Wim Wenders served as his collaborator on the project. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this French drama, an irresponsible man is forced by circumstances beyond his control to communicate with the family he's kept at a distance. Jean-Paul (Gerard Lanvin) is the manager of a hotel in Nice whose shady business practices have put him seriously into debt; he needs to raise 300,000 francs in three days, or the loan sharks who've been keeping him afloat will come after him. Desperate for help, he approaches his younger brother Philippe (Jean-Marc Barr), whom he hasn't spoken with in ten years; Philippe stole Jean-Paul's girl from him, and subsequently married her. Jean-Paul also contacts his older brother Francis (Bernard Giraudeau), a schoolteacher who was disowned by their father when he admitted to the family that he was homosexual. Neither Philippe nor Francis can help him, so Jean-Paul tries to visit his father Raphael (Roberto Herlitzka) in Italy, hoping to put a large insurance policy on his father's life, naming himself as beneficiary. When it turns out that Raphael has gone missing, the three brothers must come together to find their father and keep him out of danger. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Béart from Manon of the Spring (1986) co-star once again in Un Coeur en Hiver, playing characters whose distance from each others' lives belies the enormous emotional impact they have on one another. Directed by Claude Sautet, whose 40-year career included the Oscar-winning César et Rosalie (1972), Un Coeur en Hiver is a remarkably restrained film with torrents of feeling just under the surface. Auteuil plays Stephane, partner in an exclusive violin brokerage. His older business partner Maxime (Andre Dussolier) has a lovely new violinist girlfriend, Camille (Béart), who stirs Stephane but is ultimately rejected by him, sending all three characters into a spin that destroys their delicate, symbiotic balance. Hovering over this story is an unusual musical motif that is key to the characters' inner motivations. Violins play, and play on camera, all through the film, but the nature of Stephane's craft, Camille's career, and Maxime's profits is that the music can always be refined, tinkered with, changed with a twist of this or a bit of that. That's precisely how they conduct their relationships and lives -- with a fragile sense of security and no idea when to stop manipulating life for effect. ~ Tom Keogh, All Movie Guide

The two black men in this tragedy live on the fringes of French society, and come from Africa and the Caribbean. Among the things they share in common is involvement in the illegal sport of cockfighting. The film follows their exploits and daily lives among the poor of France, as they train their birds and enter them in matches. Be advised: some reviewers found the fight footage so repellent that they were unable to comment on the merits of the film, which is by the acclaimed director of Chocolat. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Lonely and shy bachelor Monsieur Hire (Michel Blanc), suspected in the murder of a girl, secretly watches his young, attractive neighbor Alice (Sandrine Bonnaire) through the window. Once, when lightning flashes during a thunderstorm, she notices his face in the window and comes to him to find out what he is after. Adapting Georges Simenon's novel, Patrice Leconte emphasized the psychological drama rather than the detective story and created a film about loneliness and voyeurism; his cold precision is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock or Fritz Lang. The low-key acting and moody soundtrack add a lot, but it's the director who deserves the most accolades, as he manages, with only glances and gestures, to achieve a degree of eroticism that other films fail to reach even through explicit sex scenes. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

Lovers Beatrice Dalle and Wadeck Stanczak can't quite cope with the situation when Dalle becomes pregnant. Stanczak fears that his future as an architect will be scuttled by any parental responsibilities. For her part, Dalle wants to keep the baby, but she also wants to keep Stanczak. Attempting to smooth the waters is the couple's mutual friend Francis Frappat. Chimere was the second feature-film project for director Claire Devers, who rose to prominence on the strength of her award-winning maiden effort Black and White. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Claude Sautet's A Few Days With Me (Quelque Jours avec Moi) stars Daniel Auteuil as the emotionally disturbed heir to a supermarket empire. Auteuil's mother Danielle Darrieux tries to give her son some purpose in life by assigning him the task of reinvigorating one of the supermarket chain's least profitable links. Every effort Auteuil makes to reach out and communicate with his employees is doomed to failure due to his conscious and unconscious insensitivities. He is humanized by a brief affair with maid Sandrine Bonnaire. The romance doesn't last, and Auteuil ends up back in a mental institution, but still there is a ray of hope for him in the final scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A fading television personality and radio quiz-show host is shielded by his right-hand man from learning his show has been cancelled in this situation comedy. Rivetot (Gerard Jugnot) is the loyal longtime assistant to Mortez (Jean Rochefort) who believes the news of the show's demise will be fatal to his boss. He tries to keep the news from Mortez as long as possible as the show travels from town to town. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide