Chantal Bronner Movies
Writer/director Olivier Dahan (Crimson Rivers II) helmed La Vie en Rose, the screen biopic of tragic French songstress Edith Piaf. Marion Cotillard portrays Piaf, the superstar once raised as a young girl by her grandmother in a Normandy bordello, then discovered on a French street corner -- as a complete unknown -- by cabaret proprietor Louis Leplée (Gérard Depardieu). The film segues breezily between various episodes from Piaf's life -- such as her lover, French boxer Marcel Cerdan's (Jean-Pierre Martins) championship bout in mid-'40s New York; her period in Hollywood during the '50s; Piaf's abandonment as a young girl by her contortionist father (and earlier by her mother, a street singer); her brushes with the law as an adult; and her 1951 car accident and subsequent morphine addiction that caused her to age well beyond her years and left her barely mobile; and, through it all, her ability (like Billie Holiday) to funnel personal tragedy and emotional struggles into her vocalizations -- dazzling audiences in the process. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, (more)
- 2002
Directed by Noah Nuer, Cavalcades follows a rebellious young woman and her anxious homosexual friend as they encourage one another to leave their hang-ups in the past. Taking place over a period of days, Anne (Agnes Roland) is flustered over several failed university exams, while Didier (Maxime Desmons) is distraught over his mentally unsound mother's looming apartment move. The two Parisians meet via bicycle collision, and quickly find themselves friends. The topic amongst them is confronting the ways their respective familial expectations have damaged them, and attempting to resolve these issues as if death was only 20 minutes away. Cavalcades also features Josy Bernard, Julian Lambroschini, Christian Sinniger, Chantal Bronner, Alain Rimoux, and Blanche Raynal.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agnes Roland, Maxime Desmons, (more)
- 1986
In a most unusual, near menage a trois, Charlotte (Isabelle Huppert, sister of director Caroline Huppert) is a terrified young singer who is forced to hide out at the home of her ex-boyfriend -- her current male companion has been murdered in his apartment, and she fears the worst. The trouble is that Mathieu (Niels Arestrup), her ex, is happily living with his new love Christine (Christine Pascal), and Charlotte's presence totally unnerves him and upsets Christine. Yet he agrees to hide her above their garage. That arrangement does not last long, and Charlotte shortly disappears on them, only to call Mathieu for help a few days later. He zooms off to her rescue, but even Christine, intensely hurt by Mathieu's behavior with Charlotte, agrees to help the duo cross over into Spain. Before that plan can be put in place, Charlotte is gone again -- leaving Christine and Mathieu to patch up the wounds in their relationship, which faces an uncertain future. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Huppert, Niels Arestrup, (more)
- 1976
Chafing under her suppressive parents, Nea begins keeping a secret diary, recording her innermost erotic yearnings. When imagination proves inadequate, she decides to experience first-hand the things she's previously only fantasized about. Nea eases into her sexual adventures out of boredom rather than supposed necessity. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Zacharias, Sami Frey, (more)
