René Feret Movies
- 2008
A young couple find out what love truly means when one of them has a brush with death in this drama from writer and director Rene Feret. When Anne (Salomé Stévenin) and Marc (Nicolas Giraud) met, it was love at first sight, and the longer they were together, the more they realized they never wanted to be apart. Not long after Anne and Marc were married, they decided they wanted to have children, but when Anne had trouble conceiving, they both went to the doctor. During Marc's checkup, his doctor discovered some unexpected symptoms, and Marc was soon diagnosed with Hodgkins' lymphoma. As Marc goes through grueling rounds of chemotherapy, he and Anne find their feelings for one another tested, and discover that hardship can make true love stronger. Comme Une Etoile Dans La Nuit (aka Like A Star In The Night) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2001
A woman finds herself compelled to help someone who isn't so sure she wants to be helped in this drama. Isabelle (Marion Held) is a woman in her mid-forties whose marriage recently came to an end. While doing some shopping at a drugstore, Isabelle is confronted by Mado (Dominique Marcas), a proud but not terribly stable woman who needs the assistance of others, but dislikes any perceived limits on her independence. Isabelle is sympathetic enough to help walk Mado home, and discovers the older woman is living in poverty and filth. At once appalled by her living conditions and moved by her meager circumstances, Isabelle stops by every once in a while to help Mado however she can, and as her visits become more frequent, she finds herself growing closer to Mado. Mado, however, is torn between feelings of gratitude and resentment toward Isabelle. Shot on digital video equipment to stretch its low budget, Rue De Retrait was financed out of pocket by its writer and director Rene Feret, who also appears in a supporting role. Feret's screenplay is based on a short story by Doris Lessing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominique Marcas
- 1997
Though gay-themed stories about "coming out" and accepting one's sexuality are not uncommon in Western countries, such tales are still rare in many conservative African nations. Considered a ground-breaking film in its native Guinea, and filmed amidst a storm of controversy, Mohamed Camara's Dakan is the first of its nations films to directly address issues surrounding homosexuality. When Camara set about making the film, he had funding from France and the Guinea government (a first) until the latter learned of the subject matter and immediately withdrew support, leaving Camara to use his own resources to make up the difference. When the film still didn't have enough financial resources to be made, the French television network La Sept came in and provided the necessary backing. But the filmmaker's trials were not over; Camara and crew then had to contend with angry mobs of protestors who wanted them to stop filming. The story centers on the romance between two 20-year-old men, Manga and Sory who are first seen making out in a car. The trouble begins when Manga tells his widowed mother about his love for Sory, who is busy contending with his outraged father. The parents insist that the two never see each other again. Manga's mother then uses witchcraft to cleanse her son and change him into a heterosexual. Time passes and eventually Manga begins to date a girl. But it soon becomes apparent that try as he might, Manga's heart belongs to Sory. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
This autobiographical drama tells the story of a young man with a promising future who goes completely to pieces following a run of truly awful events, and who gradually puts back the pieces to his life with the help of art. At the beginning of the film, Thomas (Samuel Le Bihan) is an up-and-coming actor. His proud and loving father is watching him in a Shakespeare performance. Not long afterwards, his father dies, Thomas accidentally kills a bicyclist with his car, his girlfriend leaves him, and he develops a disorder of the inner ear. As a consequence of these and other misfortunes, he becomes depressed, attempts suicide, and has a psychotic break which lands him in a mental hospital. Though putting his story on film may have been cathartic for director René Féret, reviewers had difficulty warming to this film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel Le Bihan, Cecile Bois, (more)
- 1992
When a group of student actors travel to a workshop in Dordogne to put on a production of Shakespeare's As You Like It as a summer project, they are as lively and high-spirited a group as one could ask for. While they are there, the young man who has the leading role begins casting cow eyes at the director's wife (Valerie Stroh), and soon she and the boy are having an affair. By the end of the summer, the wife is sufficiently charmed to wonder how she could have gotten into this situation where she deeply loves both men. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Stroh, Michael Vartan, (more)
- 1991
While contemplating her single state, an unmarried woman writer tosses and turns in bed. Her lover, a doctor, wants her to join him in Paris. On the other hand, she thinks maybe she should end the relationship. All of a sudden, as she lies restless in bed, she is struck with inspiration for three separate stories, which the film shows. In "A Man And Two Women," a married woman who has just given birth to a baby is entertaining a female friend of hers at their home and suggests that the friend and her husband start an affair, since all her energy is tied up in the baby. This suggestion heightens the sexual tension already present among the three players. In "One Another," a married woman gets rid of her husband and chooses to become romantically involved with her brother instead. In "Our Friend Judith," a woman finds a sense of renewal while on vacation on the island of Elba by bedding her handsome hairdresser. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Stroh, Lambert Wilson, (more)
- 1991
The coming-of-age ritual of young Alexina (Valerie Stroh) is complicated by an unforseen circumstance. How can a girl become a woman if she isn't a girl in the first place? Alexina confirms this biological fact by entering into a confusing relationship with an older woman. If, after watching Alexina, you're as mixed up as the heroine/hero, rest assured you're in good company. English-language prints are unrated, but you've probably gathered that this one isn't for the kids. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
This is a remake of the 1982 film Savannah Smiles. Colin (Jacques Higelen) and Mailland (Daniel Martin) are small-time crooks on the run who are surprised to find the seven-year-old runaway Savannah (Elodie Gautier) is along for the ride. The police and her parents fear she has been kidnapped, and a massive manhunt is launched with orders to shoot to kill the alleged perpetrators. The lovable little girl soon melts the hearts of the crooks, as the trio enjoy an unlikely but sentimental friendship. The late Marcel Bozzuffi makes his last screen appearance as Coplan, the confident cop in charge of recovering Savannah. Rene Feret plays Savannah's father, a hypocritical politician. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Higelin, Daniel Martin, (more)
- 1988
In this film, director Rene Feret tells the story of his parents' lives. In 1935 his mother Aline (Valerie Stroh) works in her parents' cafe in a mining town in northern France. There, she meets a customer, Pierre (Jean-Yves Berteloot), and decides she is going to marry him. In a reversal of roles, she is the one who proposes to him, and she also engineers a false pregnancy to persuade her parents to okay the match. With a few stops along the way, the story picks up after the war with the birth of the couple's third son, who is given the name Rene in memory of their first, dead son. Never rich, they achieve some level of financial stability just as their sons are about to head off to the city for college. The love between the two older people is highlighted in a poignant scene as, just as he is about to die, the father shares a champagne toast with his wife in memory of one of their happier moments. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Stroh, Jean-Yves Berteloot, (more)
- 1986
This provocative French drama is based upon the true story of Herculine Adelaide Barbin, a person who lived in the 19th century and grew up assuming that she was a woman. The character in the film is named Alexina. She had been raised in a convent and at 22-years-old, became the town school teacher in La Rochelle. There she is embraced by the locals who quickly befriend her. The trouble begins when she begins having sexual feelings for her roommate, a teacher named Sara. Their bedroom is divided by a curtain and at night, it is pure torture for Alexina who is deeply confused by the lust she feels. Eventually the two embark upon a lesbian romance until Sara remarks that Alexina loves as if she were a man. Their love affair causes a scandal amongst the townsfolk who find it disgusting. Later, Alexina is examined by a physician who discovers that "she" is also a "he," in short, Alexina is a hermaphrodite. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phillippe Vuillemin, Valerie Stroh, (more)
- 1983
This self-conscious film with acting that is not quite up to par, is about an insurance investigator who meets an attractive woman in a hotel on his way to check out the causes of a fire that destroyed a movie set. The woman is still on his mind when he reaches the set, where contacts with the irritating, emotionally impaired movie crew leave him in a confused state himself -- all the more confused when he learns that his mystery woman had been working on this set as an actress when she suddenly left. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Dutronc, Lea Massari, (more)
- 1981
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
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1980
An intended black comedy about the unhappy plight of a newly released convict, Fernand is not one of the better efforts by director Rene Feret. The convict (Bernard Bloch) leaves prison with every intention of abiding by the laws of the land and becoming a decent citizen. What he encounters is a raft of very indecent citizens whose cruel manipulation, greed, brutality, and undeniably coarse behavior would be enough to turn Mary Poppins into a raving terrorist. Fernand is no saint, but after his experiences with life outside the prison, life inside seems idyllic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Bloch
- 1976
In this complex chronicle of the evolution of a provincial family's life, the story follows three generations of at least two neighboring families from the 1890s to the 1970s. In one of many related tales, a man who was engaged to the older daughter of a farmer elopes with the younger one. After many years and the birth of five children, the man leaves his wife and family for the bright lights of the city but continues turning up from time to time, until he is finally taken into the home of one of his sons when he is a quite old man. The complex interactions of the legitimate and illegitimate children of a womanizing miner give rise to yet another set of related stories. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Bouchery, Nathalie Baye, (more)
- 1976
Actress Jeanne Moreau made her directorial debut with this tale about a gathering of actresses who, over the course of an all-night conversation, come to reassess their careers and romantic lives. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francine Racette, Jeanne Moreau, (more)
- 1975
Told entirely without pyrotechnics of any kind, and with unsparing and sympathetic realism, this film examines a young man's life in the mental institution to which he was sent following a suicide attempt. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Allio, Michel Amphoux, (more)
