Jacques Doillon Movies

Raja (Najat Benssallem) is a 19-year-old Moroccan girl. An orphan, she's led a difficult life, but has gotten off the streets and lives with her cousin Nadira (Ilham Abdelwahad) and her family. Raja and Nadira are happy to get low-paying jobs working in the garden of a wealthy middle-aged Frenchman, Fred (Pascal Greggory). Fred is immediately attracted to the new girl and the other girls tease Raja about his interest, encouraging her to go after his money. Fred discusses his growing infatuation with his two elderly cooks, Oum El Aid (Oum El Aid Ait Youss) and Zineb (Zineb Ouchita), who try to discourage his interest. Because they don't speak the same language, Fred and Raja often have to rely on others to translate as they dance around each other. Fred hires Raja to be his maid, and flirts shamelessly with her. She's intrigued, and desperate to change her life, but she keeps him at a distance, uncertain of the seriousness of his interest. Raja has a boyfriend, Youssef (Hassan Khissal), who resents her relationship with the Frenchman; in addition, her brother (Abdelilah Lamrani), who pimped her out as a girl, still tries to control her life, taking a share of the money she earns. He plans for her to marry a policeman he knows. Fred struggles with his emotions. They obviously feel something for each other, but the cultural and economic differences between them may be too immense to overcome. Raja, written and directed by Jacques Doillon (Ponette), was shown at the 2003 New York Film Festival. Benssallem won the Marcello Mastroianni Award (for best first performance) at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Jacques Doillon's films tend to swing between studies of hysterical characters and explorations of youth. Petits frères belongs to the second category, but with a difference. Unlike some of his other work, such as Jeune Werther, this film is set in the poor suburbs. Thirteen-year old Talia is having problems with her stepfather, so she escapes with her dog in the direction of Pantin, where she hopes to find her friends. But they have already been placed in a home. The only people she meets are four boys who win her confidence and then steal her dog. She is so desperate to find Kim that she is ready to do anything. In her search for her dog, she discovers solidarity. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

A four-year-old girl must come to terms with the loss of her mother and the reality of death in this award-winning French drama. Little Ponette (Victoire Thivisol) is riding in a car with her mother when they're involved in a serious accident; Ponette survives, but her mother does not. Her father (Xavier Beauvois) initially reacts with anger over his late wife's careless driving, while her Aunt Claire (Claire Nebout) tries to comfort the child by telling her about Jesus and the resurrection. However, none of this does much to reassure Ponette or clarify her confusion about the practical realities and spiritual dilemma posed by death. In time, Ponette and her cousins Matiaz (Matiaz Caton) and Delphine (Delphine Schiltz) are sent off to boarding school, where they have to resolve their confusion and loss on their own. Writer and director Jacques Doillon carefully coached Victoire Thivisol (who was too young to read the screenplay) through her performance; the results earned the child Best Actress honors at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ever since Goethe wrote his romantic novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, the name Werther has been synonymous with the mystery and even the romance of suicide among the young. In this thoughtful movie, Ismaël (Ismal Jole), a young thirteen-year old boy, is taken aback by the suicide of his best friend. Not only did he not have any idea that this dramatic act was a possibility, neither did his other friends. Perhaps it had something to do with his having an unrequited love for a beautiful young neighbor, an attraction Ismaël also feels. Perhaps it had something to do with drugs, or a problem with a universally disliked teacher. Throughout most of the film, the young survivors discuss their departed classmate. ~ 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

Wise beyond her 15 years, Juliette (Judith Godreche) has developed a curious modus operandi in matters of the heart. She goes out of her way to befriend older men, sleeps with each of her conquests but once, then moves on. Director Jacques Doillon plays the father of Juliette's latest beau; the boy's father hopes to break the girl's love-em-and-leave-em pattern by bedding her himself. In addition to acting and directing in La Fille de Quinze Ans, Doillon also wrote the screenplay and co-produced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This portrayal of the reunion of an estranged father and daughter is set against the backdrop of a theatrical production. The father Pierre (Michel Piccoli) is the artistic director of a theater, and when his daughter Manon (Sandrine Bonnaire) lets him know that she is coming to see him after a year's absence, Pierre decides to prepare for the meeting. He goes to the theater with his girlfriend Ariane (Sabine Azema) and has the actresses in his troupe act out different aspects of his daughter's character. Unfortunately, this is not adequate preparation, for when Manon does show up, nothing goes quite as he imagined. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This is an affecting story about a father's attempts to mend the breaches in the relationship between himself and his 10-year-old daughter. Emmanuel (Sami Frey) is the father of Elise (Mara Goyet) by his first marriage, and the stepfather of an older daughter by his second marriage. He tries to make the best of both family relationships by taking off to visit his young daughter on the weekends, but that only makes his new family a little jealous -- especially his stepdaughter. She herself is confused about her own relationship with him. After a particularly emotional send-off one weekend, Emmanuel and Elise take a trip from the south of France into Spain, working on a film project. Through a series of round-about conversations, Emmanuel manages to open up a few channels of communication with Elise -- channels that expand even wider when he uses the technique of talking into her video camera to express thoughts and feelings that otherwise would have remained hidden. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Anne (Jane Birkin) is a seriously disturbed young woman who is driven to leave her husband for awhile and go home to her parents in the countryside. Once there, she comes up against many of the primal causes of her own imbalanced mind. Her father is in an indecisive relationship with both his wife (Natasha Parry) and his mistress (Eva Rensi), and does not seem a pillar of stability himself. When Anne confronts her father, their relationship degenerates, leaving little promise for the future. Viewers should take note that the film deals with social taboos, such as incest. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Though he has been having affairs for years, one day when Jacques comes home from being with his mistress, his wife Dominique greets him with tears and demands for affection. After having accepted the situation for so long, it is puzzling to him that she has suddenly grown so demanding. He is not about to leave either woman. Dominique attempts to cope when he brings his mistress home with him, but her inner state is one of increasing hysteria, and tragedy is never very far away. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A free-wheeling young apprentice baker manages to have just a little bit too much fun, and gets fired for being late to work one too many times. The trouble is, his room is included as part of his wages, and he really can't afford to leave. He barricades himself inside with a male friend and also with his two girlfriends, a waitress and a Swedish hippie. Things do not go well between them or with his irate boss. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide