Claire Devers Movies
French filmmaker Claire Devers directs this powerful drama about poverty and injustice. Francoise Barnier (Dominique Blanc), a single mother who works as a cleaner at a slaughterhouse, can barely put food on the table for her two young daughters, but her fierce pride prevents her from seeking out welfare. One day, overcome with the prospects of a promotion, she splurges on food she cannot afford, and she pockets a package of meat. She is caught in the act and sent to jail. Though she is acquitted after making an impassioned plea for clemency, a journalist decries the court's lenient treatment, and she is eventually dragged back into court for a retrial. La Voleuse de Saint Lubin was screened at the 1999 Venice Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominique Blanc, Denis Podalydès, (more)
Even among bombers and murderers, there is a social ladder, a hierarchy to climb. Jeremie is a mere bomber who blows up people and places for mobsters in Paris. He may not look it, scruffy lad that he is, but he is a sensitive fellow, and he feels his lowly status keenly. If only he could graduate to the ranks of hitmen, who are honored in his world, perhaps then he would feel more like somebody. He finally gets his chance when he receives instructions to kill the eminent hitman Max, who knows too much to be left alive. Instead of planning a cool and distant hit, Jeremie gets to know his quarry personally and thereby gets entangled in a mass of conflicting allegiances. Max has one more assignment and has asked Jeremie to help him with it. The hero-worshipping boy can't bring himself to knock of this classy guy. However, just having such an inept apprentice as Jeremie around is enormously dangerous for the soon-to-be-retired killer. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Christopher Lambert, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Béatrice Dalle, Wadeck Stanczak, (more)
A white accountant finds himself irresistibly drawn into a sadomasochistic relationship with his black masseur in this distinguished film debut from French filmmaker Claire Devers. The story contains little dialog and is filmed in black and white. The accountant is a quiet married man who has been hired to work on the books of a local health club. He is not interested in extramarital sex, only his work. Later his boss suggest he try a massage at the club. A cautious man, the accountant is at first bashful as the enormous masseur begins working on his tense muscles. Soon he finds himself hooked on these evening sessions that become increasingly violent (but not sexual) as time passes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Frappat, Jacques Martial, (more)
After serving his apprenticeship as a screenwriter for director André Techiné, former movie critic Olivier Assayas wrote and directed this film. In the story, a penniless girl and two similarly impoverished boys with ambitions of becoming a successful rock group are sorely in need of some instruments to play on. They decide to break into a music store and manage to get their hands on the instruments they need -- killing the proprietor in the process. Though the police never catch up with them, something else waylays these "tough" kids -- their consciences. Despondent over the killing, one of the young men commits suicide. The others are then confronted with their own feelings about their crimes and each other and cannot easily give themselves over to their quest to become musicians. One of the film's musical highlights is a performance of the Woodentops. This teen drama won the critic's prize at the 1987 Venice Film Festival. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wadeck Stanczak, Ann-Gisele Glass, (more)









