Richard Copans Movies

Algerian director Djamila Sahraoui's sobering drama Barakat! chronicles the plight of Amel, an emergency physician living and working in a small town hospital on the Algerian coast, during that nation's blood-soaked civil war in 1990. One evening, Amel returns home to discover that her husband has vanished without a trace. Inferring that he was abducted and taken underground by a group of militant Islamic terrorists, Amel confronts the authorities but is promptly snubbed and given the runaround. Refusing to be deterred, Amel vows to head for the war-torn surrounding foothills and locate the man herself. An older woman who lives nearby, Khadidja, once fought for Algerian independence against the French as a young girl; she insists on joining Amel. Though the women discover massive differences between themselves in outlook, politic, and breadth of experience, they quickly realize that they need to stick together and resolve minor disagreements if they are to confront the enemy successfully. The film thus becomes a testament to female camaraderie, resourcefulness and courage in the face of daunting odds. Zahir Bouzrar, Rachida Brakni and Fettouma Bouamari co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story this emotionally wrenching character study focuses upon a desperate young wife who feigns an entire pregnancy in hopes of convincing her dissatisfied husband to remain with her. Magali's problem comes from the fact that she is so bland and unassuming as to be nearly invisible. Her passivity and inability to form her own opinions grates on her husband Alain, a go-getter radio journalist, and he plans to take a year long assignment in Canada to get away from her. While preparing to leave, his boss, who has been inadvertently led to believe that Magli is pregnant, shows up and tells Alain. The husband's first response is to demand an abortion, but on second thought he decides he would like to become a father after all. Magli, fearing that he will leave, then devises her elaborate ruse. The gravity of her deception increases with that of her pillow-padded abdomen, for when her terminally ill father learns of her fecund condition, he vows that he will remain alive long enough to see his grandbaby. Her sister-in-law, who opted for abortion, is also very supportive and determined to help her through the pregnancy. As the months pass, Magli becomes increasingly cagey and cannily does not give Alain a definite due date. In the end, she solves her problem in a most creative way; it is a solution that spawns surprising consequences. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The subject of this French documentary is grim and distressing, but its final message is filled with hope as it chronicles the daily horrors endured by children being treated for cancer. The filmmaker, Denis Gheerbrant, spent over nine months interviewing and filming ailing (and recovering) children in the Curie Institute, Paris. The film focuses on three of them and is edited to reflect the progression of their diseases through the passing seasons. The children are Steve, a shy teen, Dolores, a little girl trying to deal with her pain, and Cedric, a typical 8-year old who analyzes everything that happens to him. It is Cedric who spoke the phrase that became the film's title. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In 1941, those who had remained around too long to completely escape the Nazi blitzkrieg had one small, slim chance to escape persecution. They could travel to Marseilles and attempt to get the servile but still nominally independent government of Vichy France to grant them an exit visa. Then they could take passage to safer climes on one of the neutral vessels that stopped there. This drama, based on a novel by Anna Seghers, follows the fates of a small group of desperate people who are attempting to do just that. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A female job counselor tries to find work for two very different unemployed men in this comedy. She is in love with a man who would rather climb mountains than work for a living. The second man is a former bank clerk who is embarrassed to admit he lost his job. Roland Blanche co-stars with Henri Deus and Sabine Haudepin. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Wandering from scene to scene instead of focusing on the issue at hand, this story is meant to be about Thai workers finding jobs in Arab countries like Bahrain while leaving their country and their wives behind them. Instead of staying with this theme, interludes like a prince in Bahrain giving a tour of his mansion, and a film censor discussing film detract from the ostensible purpose of director Amos Gitai. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In spite of difficulties posed by soldiers, officials, and other authorities who tried to stop him from filming, director Amos Gitai stubbornly forged ahead with this documentary on the Israeli occupied areas of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Life in these regions is shown in all its variety, from the Israeli soldiers who mainly support the occupation (one does suggest the land should be returned to the Palestinians), to the markets and towns bustling with activity, to the farmers at work. There is also an interview with a mayor who was permanently disabled in a bomb blast, and overall, an attempt was made to present a complete picture of both Palestinian and Israeli life in these disputed territories. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this documentary, Luc Moulet investigates the sources for the foods he is eating at the outset of the film: tuna and bananas. When he investigates the French labels on his tuna, he discovers that the fish were actually caught in Senegal, and his bananas came from Ecuador. The people who caught the fish and the growers of the bananas are interviewed, and their economic hardships are clearly underscored. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide