Michel Deville Movies

A group of Jewish Holocaust survivors attempt to restart their lives after Europe's liberation from Nazi occupation in director Michel Deville's 2002 ensemble drama Almost Peaceful. Husband and wife couple Albert (Simon Abkaryan) and Lea (Zabou Breitman) attempt to rebuild their tailoring business in central Paris, starting with the hiring of staff for their company. All of their new employees have been scarred -- in varying degrees -- by their experiences during the war. Charles (Denis Podalydes) lost his entire family to the death camps, while Maurice (Stanislas Merhar) seems to be unable to sustain long-term relationships and -- as a result -- frequents whorehouses for companionship. While all of them initially refuse to discuss their experiences during the war, they all also eventually realize that the only way to truly move forward with the rest of their lives is to come to terms with their pasts. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Two very violent men have conspired to steal a valuable solid gold image of an African deity from the museum in Mali where it is being kept. They had it smuggled out with a number of well-made but very cheap replicas. The plan was to give each of the replicas to the members of a new squash club as a diversion, and profit from the original (worth $1 million) themselves. There is a slip-up, however, and the real statue goes to one of the players. The deliveryman now has to track down all the statues, and in this antic caper comedy, that's easier said than done. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Helene (Anemone) is looking for her love of 25 years ago. She is 43 now, was 18 then. She has returned to the last place she saw him, a large house in the country. Once there, she finds Ariane making love to Matthieu. Matthieu is Sabine's husband; Sabine is younger than he is, she wants a child, Matthieu doesn't. Also at the time Helene arrives, she finds Lena leaning on a door, in tears. she has a lover 23 years younger than her, named Marc. Lena also has a child, Michel, a bright lad. The household also includes Cecile, who thought she was invited to babysit someone, and instead sits at the piano playing light classical tunes by the composer Gottschalk. When Helene is able to get the attention of these busy people, she confides her purpose to them, and in this bedroom farce they all agree to do whatever they can to help her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Amnesty International produced this film, which features more than two dozen greats of French cinema making pleas for the lives of political prisoners around the world. Each filmmaker speaks passionately on behalf of an individual whose life has been warped by political intolerance, imprisonment, torture or murder, as the lives of those prisoners or sufferers are documented onscreen. A variety of directors contributed shorts with this theme, and the ways in which the appeals are dramatized differ markedly from one to the next. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

At the suggestion of a friend, Constance (Miou-Miou) places an ad in the paper offering her services as a reader in this romantic comedy drama. Her job leads her to a variety of employers and occasional romantic involvement. Maria Casares plays the widow of an East European general who has Constance read Tolstoy and Marx. Pierre Dux is the local magistrate who prefers to hear the memoirs of the Marquis de Sade. She also has an affair with a harried business executive played by Patrick Chesnais. This film was named the "Best Feature" at the 1988 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Mixing together the erotic and a theme of imminent death, director Michel Deville has fashioned an increasingly unsettling tale, based on the French novel Sur la Terre Comme au Ciel by Rene Belletto. When David (Christophe Malavoy) arrives at the home of Julia (Nicole Garcia) and Graham (Michel Piccoli) to teach guitar to their teenage daughter, a certain attraction starts between the student and teacher. That disappears when Julia seduces David at his apartment, and the two begin an affair, seemingly with the tacit consent of Julia's husband. Meanwhile, David's neighbor keeps snooping around, and at one point David is saved from a mugger just in the nick of time by a man who turns out to be an assassin for hire -- and hired to kill Graham, Julia's husband. As danger looms on the horizon for David, Graham, Julia, and the assassin himself, tension mounts, and someone's violent death seems inevitable. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Jean-Louis Trintignant's sinister yet subtle performance as a man who gives the most insane proof of love to his wife enlivens this adaptation of the novel Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith. In public, Vic Allen (Trintignant) puts up with his wife Mélanie's (Isabelle Huppert) amorous games, showing an outward attitude of acceptance. However, he scares away one of her prospective lovers by telling the poor guy that he killed one of his predecessors. In fact, he did not, and soon the actual perpetrator is found. Later, when Vic feels that Mélanie is becoming too seriously involved, he actually resorts to murders. Despite her ever-increasing suspicion, Mélanie finds it impossible to prove his guilt. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

Though he is a homosexual, he has been completely circumspect in his behavior since he entered the French diplomatic corps. However, in this film, he is routinely being followed so that a dossier can be created on him by an undercover agency. They use the leverage they gain in this manner in a variety of ways, and it could even be that their investigation is fully sanctioned by the government. However, as the lad grows aware of the investigation, his carefully composed facade begins to crumble. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this French satire, a meek little bank (Jean-Louis Trintignant) clerk finds fame and fortune when he begins getting lessons from an impoverished novelist (Jean-Pierre Cassel) . Soon the clerk is wowing the Parisians with his ability to make the women swoon, and for his talent at attracting money. The film is also known as The French Way Is. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This well-made period melodrama, set in late 19th-century France, highlights the worldly, flirtatious fashion of the day and the demands of genuine piety on the one hand and debauchery on the other. Aurore (Francoise Fabian) is a high-minded but flirtatious woman of society who charmingly refuses the attentions of one man, claiming she would have had to completely lost heart to marry such an old miser as he. She falls for completely debauched charmer Raphael (Maurice Ronet) and hopes at first to win him to a life of virtue. Unsuccessful in this and deeply obsessed with him, she then simply hopes to win him and, in the attempt, enters further and further into his depraved world. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A gorgeous woman takes it upon herself to make a man fall for her, whether he likes it or not, in this romantic comedy. Gaspard (Jean-Pierre Cassel) is a successful musician who owns a large estate in the country; he lives a quiet life with few distraction, and prefers to keep it that way. However, Gaspard's peace is disturbed one day when he gets into a minor traffic accident with Felicia (Brigitte Bardot), a beautiful but eccentric divorcee driving a Rolls-Royce. Felicia is immediately taken with Gaspard, but he doesn't much care for her; sensing a challenge, Felicia makes it her goal to turn Gaspard's head and make him fall in love with her. However, the harder Felicia tries, Gaspard puts up an even greater fight, and their potential romance turns into a high-stakes battle of wits. While Brigitte Bardot was still lovely and glamorous at 35 when she made L'Ours et la Poupee, she was nearing the end of her career as Europe's greatest female star; within five years, she would retire from acting. Collectors take note: though this film was originally shot and released in Eastmancolor, at least one U.S. video release issued the picture in a dubbed, black-and-white version. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Martin (Robert Hirsch) is a member of a comedy troupe who is captured by American soldiers when he is in costume as a German officer in this World War II comedy. He escapes and joins the Free French Army only to be captured by the Nazis while he is wearing a general's uniform. The British use him as an undercover agent to capture the Germans. Martin then is recruited in a plot to kill Hitler and is acclaimed as a hero by the resistance movement. His bravery earns him an audition with the coveted Comedie-Francaise troupe in this offbeat feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide