Alain Corneau Movies

Adapted from the same José Giovanni story that spawned Jean-Pierre Melville's classic 1966 film of the same name, director/screenwriter Alain Corneau's nail-biting thriller stars Daniel Auteuil as iconic French gangster Gustav "Gu" Minda and Monica Bellucci as the smoldering Manouche -- whose love for the notorious criminal knows no bounds. As the 1950s draw to a close, vicious convict Gu stages a daring escape from the prison where he had been serving a life sentence. Though Gu longs to flee from the country with his longtime lover Manouche, he must first complete one last job that will secure him the finances to do so; but with every policeman in the country currently searching for Gu, it isn't going to be easy. Gu has the fortitude and know-how of the most experienced criminal, and despite the fact that his staged hold-up goes down like clockwork, the police looking to capture him prove craftier than he ever anticipated. Inspector Blot (Michel Blanc) knows that Gu isn't likely to make any mistakes while procuring his funds for flight, so instead of trying to catch him in the act, he hatches an ingenious scheme to create dissent within the criminal ranks of his target. Blot's plan is to make Gu's gang think that their leader is now a police informer, and everyone buys the ruse except for Manouche. The steely-nerved Manouche knows Gu well enough to realize that he would never agree to work with the cops. Later, as things start to fall apart, Manouche prepares to pay the ultimate price to defend her beloved Gu and clear his name once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 

A stuffy French military man is transformed into a legendary Polynesian warrior in this light comic adventure tale. Capt. Alfred de Morsac (Thierry Lhermitte) is a French naval officer who, after distinguishing himself in battle against the enemy in Morocco, is sent to Tahiti in 1914, where his assignment is to persuade the natives to join the French army and fight in the trenches. However, when Morsac arrives in Tahiti, he finds that the island is ruled by Lefebvre (Francois Berleand), the French military governor who minds his charges with an iron hand, and is intent upon getting revenge on Meoata (Marie Trintignant), the widow of the last man who attempted to overthrow Lefebvre's martial regime. While Morsac, all starched uniforms and stiff upper lip, is a fish out of water in Tahiti, he soon decides that something must be done about Lefebvre's tyrannical oppression of his people, and Morsac attempts to intervene; while earning the admiration of the Tahitians, he ends up in prison for his troubles. But Reia (Anituavau Lande), Meoata's son, is convinced that Morsac is "Tefa'aora," a brave leader of local legend who will rise up to lead the Tahitians in a revolt to win their freedom. Morsac himself is less convinced, but he manages to escape from prison with the help of con man and fellow jailbird Barnabe (Patrick Timsit), and attempts to organize the islanders into a fighting force that can overthrow Lefebvre. Le Prince du Pacifique was directed and co-written by Alain Corneau, who previously worked with co-star Patrick Timsit in the international success Un Indien Dans La Ville (later remade in the United States as Jungle 2 Jungle). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A young boy who worships all things American comes of age in this amiable French melodrama set in Orleans where over 14,000 American GIs were stationed. The film opens with the solemn vow between young Patrick and Marie-Jose that they will both head to the US when they grow up. The children are totally obsessed with American culture and even surreptitiously go through the gringo garbage to find things such as old magazines, clothing, and empty packages. Years pass and the two friends are seen as lusty 16-year olds. Patrick finds himself feeling smothered by Marie-Jose and ends up falling for the vivacious blonde Yankee coquette, Trudy. He lives to go to the military base where he can hear the live jazz he is so crazy about. Soon his studies begin to suffer. On base, Patrick is befriended by a clumsy but kindly sergeant who buys him a drum kit so he can play with the jazz quintet when it entertains the troops. But when Patrick gets a chance to play drums at an out-of-town concert, his father forbids it, causing his son to rebel. Tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Jazzman-turned-director Alain Corneau brings his extensive musical savvy to All the Mornings of the World. Jean-Pierre Marielle stars as legendary 17th-century baroque composer and cellist M. de Saint Colombe. Believing the only "true" music is that which is written down, Sainte Colombe is vehemently opposed to performing in public. This stance is challenged by the composer's protégé, Marin Marais (Gerard Depardieu), a man of more commercial sensibilities. Leisurely and luxurious, All the Mornings of the World deservedly swept France's Cesar Awards (the Gallic equivalent of the Oscars). Watch for Gerard Depardieu's real-life son Guillaume Depardieu as the younger Marin Marais. All the Mornings is better known by its original French title, Tous les Matins du Monde. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The enigmatic but vivid imagery of this loosely plotted film is based on a similarly evocative novel by the Italian author Antonio Tabucchi, Noturno Indiano. An old friend of the hero's has been living in Bombay with a prostitute. His friend Peter Schlemihl (Otto Tausig) is a concentration camp survivor, who went to India after being captivated by a photograph he saw there. When the prostitute writes to him in Europe asking that he rescue his friend from a mysterious malaise, he flies into India to try and help. When he gets to Bombay, he discovers that his friend has disappeared. Following the clues left behind by the friend, and based on his acquaintance with him, he journeys to Madras to speak to a Theosophist dignitary there, and then journeys on to Portugues Goa. With each step of his journey, the hero (Jean-Hugues Anglade) becomes more identified with his friend, and re-enacts in his own person the transformations he must have experienced. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Filmed in Quebec, Henri stars Eric Brisebois in the title role. The victim of an unhappy household and bedevilled by taunts from his peers, Henri is determined to prove his self-worth by winning a cross-country race. His father (Jacques Godin) has been brooding for months because he allowed his wife to drown while trying to rescue their daughter. It is the hospitalized daughter (Lucie Laurien) who acts as catalyst for the ultimate reconciliation between Henri and his dad. Henri is an effective character study, though it might be too low-key for audiences expecting the much-vaunted cross country race to be the film's focal point. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In spite of spending three hours developing the story of French peasant Charles Saganne (Gérard Depardieu), the sweep of this epic skims over the qualities that transformed Saganne from an ordinary officer to a great military leader. Saganne was first sent to a garrison town in North Africa before Colonel Dubreuilh (Philippe Noiret) assigned him to other missions, finally giving him a chance to exercise his innate ability to lead men. After a tragic hiatus in Paris where he fails to promote the colonialist cause, he returns to the Sahara and outshines his past accomplishments, leading a ragtag band of Arab dissidents in some brilliant military maneuvers -- for which he won the French Legion of Honor. His newfound recognition also attracted a society maven who became his wife, and after his tour of duty has ended Saganne moves with her to the village where he was born. But the year is 1914 and Saganne's peaceful village idyll was not meant to endure -- he is again called off to war, and to his destiny. Even though the costuming, landscape, battles, and charisma of Depardieu as Saganne and Noiret as Colonel Dubreuilh are outstanding, and several subsidiary characters deliver emotionally compelling vignettes, the protagonists as an ensemble have not been scripted with much depth of character -- making the three-hour epic seem a bit too long in the end. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This French production concerns a gangster (Yves Montand) who retires to the countryside after living a full life of traditional crime. After settling into his new residence with his wife (Catherine Deneuve), his home is invaded by an unruly punk (Gerard Depardieu) who has some new-fangled ideas about the way crime should work. The film appears in French with English subtitles. ~ John Bush, Rovi

The title Serie Noire refers to a popular French mystery series, and literally means "Black Series." The story is based on American author Jim Thompson's hardboiled detective story A Hell of a Woman, and is close in spirit to the U.S. film noir mysteries of the 1940s. Frank Poupart (Patrick Dewaere) is a 30-year-old loser, a salesman who is barely scraping by, whose wife has just left him "just to think things over." He meets Mona (Marie Trintignant), a quiet, dreamy 15-year-old girl whose aunt has offered her to him for his sexual pleasure in return for a sweater. They become lovers, and both of them see a way out of their impoverished dead-end existence when Mona tells him that her aunt (who is also her landlady) has a large stash of money hidden away. They decide to kill her, and also kill a Greek boxer who owes Frank money, making it look like a murder/suicide. When Frank's wife returns to him, eager to begin their marriage again, he kills her out of sheer frustration. Later he is blackmailed by Staplin (Bernard Blier), his employer, and is left with no loot, no wife, three heinous crimes on his hands, and a clueless adolescent girlfriend. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A tough but honest cop must clear his name after a corrupt colleague implicates him in a murder in this French thriller. Ferrot (Yves Montand) is a hard-as-nails police detective who is attracted to a beautiful woman named Sylvia (Stefania Sandrelli). Sylvia, however, is having an affair with Ganay (Francois Perier), who happens to be Ferrot's superior on the force; Ganay happens to be married to Therese (Simone Signoret), who is handicapped. Sylvia is found murdered, and Ferrot is assigned to investigate; Ferrot is convinced that Ganay killed Sylvia because she wanted to end their relationship, but to his dismay, Ferrot discovers that the killer has placed a number of false clues that point the blame toward Ferrot. Police Python 357's brisk cutting earned editor Marie-Josephe Yoyotte a Cesar Award (the French Oscar). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The very modest lawyer (Jean-Louis Trintignant) in this case of murder finds much more than he is looking for and then must decide what to do with the unwelcome information. He is defending a woman who is accused of killing her lover. It turns out that the lover was actually killed during a holdup, and was a member of a gang which did bullying favors for local politicians; and the trail doesn't end there. This French film is directed by Trintignant's wife, Nadine. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi