Arnaud Desplechin Movies
The devastating reverberations of a profound tragedy echo through generations of a long-suffering French family in this emotional family drama from director Arnaud Desplechin. When Abel and his wife, Junon, started a family, it seemed like the seeds of true happiness had been planted. But while their daughter, Elizabeth, was healthy from the day she was born, things quickly turned dark when her brother Joseph was diagnosed with a rare and deadly genetic condition. Joseph's only hope for survival was a bone marrow transplant, but Abel, Junon, and Elizabeth were all incompatible. In one last, desperate chance to save their son's life, Abel and Junon conceived a third child. But not even little Henri could save his ailing brother's life. Joseph died at the age of seven, and neither his siblings nor his parents have ever found the strength to recover. Years later, family relations have deteriorated beyond the point of repair; the tensions between family matriarch Elizabeth and her cynical brother Henri finally culminating in a violent confrontation in which Elizabeth banishes her alcoholic brother and refuses him further contact with his troubled adolescent nephew, Paul. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, (more)
- 2007
A man universally renowned for his directorial artistry, French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin (La Sentinelle, Kings & Queen) investigates the life story of a little-known ancestor with L'Aimee. The film offers rare insights into Desplechin's familial background by following him on a deeply personal journey to his childhood home of Roubaix, a short time before the house is finally sold to an outside buyer. Once there, the filmmaker and his father Robert begin to investigate the life of Arnaud's paternal grandmother via a wealth of priceless and irreplaceable familial artifacts. The grandmother, Thérèse Desplechin, died of tuberculosis at age 36, merely two years after giving birth to Robert; consequently, Robert knows precious little about his mother aside from what he has been told. Arnaud and Robert thus team up to stitch together a loosely-knit onscreen biographical portrait of the enigmatic woman, drawing from such resources as a painting of Thérèse, pages from an old diary, personal letters and vintage photographs. Meanwhile, Desplechin's camera observes the house itself being prepped for sale, as the rooms are emptied one-by-one. The film thus meditates on the loss wrought by the death of a family member, and the changes that can unfold in a clan over the bittersweet passage of time. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
The stories of two desperate characters turn out to share an important link in this drama from French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin. Nora (Emmanuelle Devos) is a woman in her mid-thirties who wants people to believe that her life is going just the way she wants. But a look below the surface shows this isn't quite the case; she's been divorced twice, her latest relationship is on the rocks, her ten-year-old son, Elias (Valentin Lelong), is becoming increasingly withdrawn, and her father (Maurice Garrel) is in poor health. When Nora learns that her father's digestive problems are actually cancer and he may only have a few days left to live, she desperately wants to turn to Ismael (Mathieu Amalric), her second husband. But Ismael is having a crisis of his own after a pattern of increasingly strange behavior has led him to an involuntary stay in a mental hospital. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, (more)
The English-language debut of French director Arnaud Desplechin, Esther Kahn charts the ascension of a lower-class Jewish girl from a turn-of-the-century London ghetto to one of the stage's leading actresses. Esther (Summer Phoenix) feels set apart from her large, raucous family, who are all employed in the garment business. Her life is changed when she attends a Yiddish theatre performance, and she is suddenly determined to become an actress. After joining a small theatre company, she becomes the protégé of Nathan (Ian Holm), a stage veteran who instructs her in her chosen craft. Esther gradually works her way up in the ranks -- taking a lover, brainy French theatre critic Philippe (Fabrice Desplechin), along the way -- until she is cast in the title role of Hedda Gabler, which she performs to great acclaim. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Summer Phoenix, Ian Holm, (more)
- 1996
In this satiric comedy-drama from France, Paul (Mathieu Amalric) is an assistant professor of philosophy disenchanted with teaching and distracted enough that he can't (or won't) finish the dissertation that would allow him to become a full professor. Esther (Emmanuelle Devos) has been his girlfriend for nearly a decade; while he's no longer happy with the relationship, he has trouble working up the courage to break it off. He's smitten with Sylvia (Marianne Denicourt), the lover of his best friend Nathan (Emmanuel Salinger); Paul and Sylvia had a brief fling two years ago, and he can't get her out of his mind. However, once Paul gives Esther her walking papers, he starts chasing after Valerie (Jeanne Balibar), while also keeping his eye on Patricia (Chiara Mastroianni), the girlfriend of his cousin (and roommate) Bob (Thibault de Montalembert). It's hard to imagine Paul having much time to think about anything else amidst all this romantic tumult, but when Rabier (Michel Vuillermoz), a former friend, gets a top spot in Paul's department, it leads to an ongoing argument that both adds to and reflects the turmoil of his romantic life. Amalric's performance earned him a 1997 César Award as Most Promising Young Actor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Devos, (more)
- 1994
A handful of people find themselves haunted on an idyllic summer afternoon by memories of death and loss in this contemplative drama from France. Siblings Zaza (Catherine Ferran) and Francois (Charles Berling) are enjoying a day at the beach with their brother Vincent (Didier Sandre) when Zaza and Francois each find themselves reminded in different ways of a tragic incident of 20 years ago when their younger sister died in an accident with a motorbike. Meanwhile, the grown-up Vincent builds a sand castle, as a young boy, Jumbo (Guillaume Charras), guards his creation from the waves. Jumbo, however, can't keep his mind from straying to thoughts of a close friend who recently died of cancer, and the boy can't help but imagine that he could have somehow prevented the death if he had tried. Director Pascale Ferran's work on Petits Arrangements avec les Morts was awarded with the Golden Camera at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Didier Sandre, Alexandre Zloto, (more)
After spending some time with his diplomat father in Germany, a young French medical student returns by train to Paris to resume his studies. He is puzzled by the harsh treatment he receives from customs at the border but doesn't begin to understand why until he gets home and discovers a mummified head in his luggage. He suspects that someone at customs put it there, but is not sure. Instead of reporting the meandering body part, he decides to investigate it using the tools he has as a medical student. It appears to be the head of a Russian who died somewhere in Asia. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emmanuel Salinger, Thibault de Montalembert, (more)
- 1989
The French Love Without Pity strikes different people different ways. To some, it's the last word in profundity; to others, it's a subtitled yawnfest. We suggest that you judge for yourself this story of low-down louse Hippolyte Girardot, who regards the women in his life as little more that doormats upon which to wipe his feet. It's "just deserts" time when Girardot falls head over heels for Mireille Perrier, who proceeds to treat him like dirt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hippolyte Girardot, Mireille Perrier, (more)
- 1986
This political allegory comments upon the early 1970s in Greece, the time when democracy was finally restored. The tale begins in 1971 as the son of a communist grows tired of ostracism and moves to Paris to find a better life. There he lives with an ignorant, distant cousin who works as a furrier in a French ghetto. The cousin has found a picture of a famous singer and he considers it a good luck charm. When the young exile sees the photo, he inquires about the woman, and the cousin claims that she is his sister. The exile falls in love with the picture. He begins looking for the woman and a terrible tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aris Retsos, Christos Tsangas, (more)
