Nicole Garcia Movies

Directed by Bruno Podalydès (who helmed the "Montmartre" segment of the omnibus Paris, I Love You), Bancs Publics chronicles three intersecting stories in the city of Versailles: an office worker who hangs a banner reading "Lonely Man" beneath his window, the feuding families and couples in a busy town square, and the employees and customers of a local shop. This sprawling and droll exploration of the estrangement of modern life boasts a star-studded supporting cast that features a veritable who's who of French cinema, including Olivier Gourmet, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, Chiara Mastroianni, Hippolyte Girardot, Pierre Arditi, and the grande dame herself, Catherine Deneuve. ~ Sandra Bencic, Rovi

A group of women struggling with their sexuality speak openly with the female counselors who wonder if such a thing as "sexual freedom" is truly possible in this tale of the incredible hidden in mundane, everyday events. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Like the American pictures Magnolia and Happy Endings, French helmer Nicole Garcia's ensemble drama Charlie Says interweaves a tapestry of mordant and miserable existences. Garcia zeroes in on six vice-ridden Gallic men, all generally average and unremarkable individuals, and several at the midpoints of their sorry lives. The characters include: Mathieu (Patrick Pineau), an artic researcher returning to the town where he grew up to host an important conference; Adrien (Arnaud Valois), a national celebrity notorious for losing a tennis match, who must now resume formal court training; small-town mayor Jean-Louis Bertagnat (Jean-Pierre Bacri) , who prepares to honor Mathieu at a town ceremony and bides his off time in a stormy extramarital affair with landscape gardener Severine (Sophie Cattani); ex-con Joss (Benoit Pooleverde), a man attempting to survive parole without drifting back into crime; pool worker Serge Torres (Vincent Lindon) , a husband and father who flirts dangerously with married Finnish co-worker Nora (Minna Haapkyla); and Serge's son, the Charlie of the title (Ferdinand Martin) who has Nora's husband as a teacher but consents to ably assisting his father in the execution of an affair with Nora by falsely indicating his father's whereabouts to his mother. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Anton Chekhov's The Seagull receives an updated adaptation in this drama from veteran French filmmaker Claude Miller. Mado (Nicole Garcia) is a successful actress who is spending the summer at her country estate with her boyfriend, Brice (Bernard Giraudeau), a noted filmmaker who directed her latest picture. Also staying with Mado is her son, Julien (Robinson Stévenin), a budding experimental filmmaker with a combustible personality who is infatuated with Lili (Ludivine Sagnier), a beautiful young woman whose family lives nearby. Lili is attentive but cool around Julien, who doesn't pay much heed to the attentions of Jeanne-Marie (Julie Depardieu), the daughter of Mado's caretaker (Marc Betton) who has long held a torch for him. When Julien screens his latest film for Mado and her guests, it leads to a bitter argument between the two as her criticism of her son's work devolves into a series of personal attacks on one another. As Julien threatens to sever ties with his mother, Lili courts the attentions of Brice, while Jeanne-Marie defends Julien's work with little reaction from him. La Petite Lili received its world premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A woman's grief and her mother's madness lead to strange and unforeseen consequences in this offbeat drama based on a novel by Ruth Rendell. Betty Fisher (Sandrine Kiberlain) is a promising young writer who has a four-year-old son, Joseph (Arthur Setbon). Betty's mother, Margot (Nicole Garcia), comes to visit her from Spain. Betty's relationship with Margot is difficult at best; Margot is emotionally unstable, and once attacked her daughter with a pair of scissors when she was a child. While spending time with Margot, Betty loses track of Joseph for a while, and the boy is severely injured when he falls out of a window. While Joseph is rushed to the hospital, he never regains consciousness and dies later that day. Betty is understandably distraught, and as she sinks deep in sorrow, Margot snatches Jose (Alexis Chatrian), a boy the same age as Joseph who is the son of Carole (Mathilde Seigner), a waitress with a serious drug habit who often delegates care of her child to her new boyfriend, Francois (Luck Mervil). Margot claims that Jose deserves a better parent than Carole, and she gives him to Betty to care for; while Betty is fully aware of the impropriety of Margot's action, the loss of Joseph has left such a void in her life that she reluctantly accepts the child as a way of dealing with her sadness. Betty Fisher et Autres Histoires was directed by one-time Francois Truffaut associate Claude Miller. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Nicole Garcia directed this French suspense thriller set in the posh Paris square of Place Vendôme, where the jewelers district includes the firm run by Vincent Malivert (Bernard Fresson) with his brother, Eric (François Berléand). Although Vincent has a top reputation in the field, his British colleagues suspect he fences stolen diamonds. Vincent's alcoholic wife Marianne (Catherine Deneuve), who goes to a classy clinic to dry out, doesn't like the thought of signing papers to transfer the firm's name to other hands, a move that will save the firm from bankruptcy. Thanks to Vincent, she knows of some hidden diamonds, but others would also like to locate the hidden pouch, including the mysterious employers of Kleiser (Philippe Clevenot). The odyssey sends Marianne into boardrooms, past the workbenches of gem-cutters, and on through the hotels, cafes, and diamond markets of Paris and Antwerp. Shown in competition at the 1998 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

In this French drama, an irresponsible man is forced by circumstances beyond his control to communicate with the family he's kept at a distance. Jean-Paul (Gerard Lanvin) is the manager of a hotel in Nice whose shady business practices have put him seriously into debt; he needs to raise 300,000 francs in three days, or the loan sharks who've been keeping him afloat will come after him. Desperate for help, he approaches his younger brother Philippe (Jean-Marc Barr), whom he hasn't spoken with in ten years; Philippe stole Jean-Paul's girl from him, and subsequently married her. Jean-Paul also contacts his older brother Francis (Bernard Giraudeau), a schoolteacher who was disowned by their father when he admitted to the family that he was homosexual. Neither Philippe nor Francis can help him, so Jean-Paul tries to visit his father Raphael (Roberto Herlitzka) in Italy, hoping to put a large insurance policy on his father's life, naming himself as beneficiary. When it turns out that Raphael has gone missing, the three brothers must come together to find their father and keep him out of danger. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Without undue melodrama or moral judgment, this evocative French drama paints a painfully realistic portrait of a woman who inexorably destroys her life with her constant fixation on her own needs. She is Camille Valmont, a woman whose lust for fame eclipses every other aspect of her life. By the time she succeeds, she has lost her good husband and two young children. The courts grant her visitation rights with the children every other weekend. Even then, she is so consumed by her career that she rarely avails herself of the rights. Then her career begins to go into a slump. Camille becomes so desperate for money that she must take any job available to get by. One day she gets a short stint working as a Rotary Club hostess in Vichy. Unfortunately, it is on a visitation weekend. To do both, she takes the children with her, something the courts have forbidden her to do. Just before she is to go on stage, her ex-husband calls to tell her that he is coming for the children. She panics, steals a rental car and takes off with the children, neither of whom care much for her, in a desperate, if misguided bid to get closer to them. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

An urban gigolo on the run from a mobster hides out at the remote cabin of a female novelist in this plodding romantic drama. Her neighbors include an elderly man with a penchant for growing sunflowers and an unhappy neighbor girl with emotional problems. Love blossoms for the unlikely couple who somehow realize their liaison is doomed to failure. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

It is possible to enjoy Claude Lelouch's Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later on its own merits, though we advise that to fully appreciate the film, it's best to catch Lelouch's 1966 blockbuster A Man and a Woman first. True to its word, the 1986 film brings us up to date with the protagonists of the earlier picture. One-time movie script girl Anouk Aimee is now a producer, suffering a slump due to a string of box-office bombs. Former race car driver Jean-Louis Trintigant now books races for younger drivers. His love affair with Aimee long in the past, Tritignant is startled to receive an out-of-the-blue phone call from his former amour. She wants his permission to film a musical version of their romance, but with more "suitable" younger leads. Alas, Aimee has been part of the Studio System too long, and can't help but include a pointless subplot involving an escaped lunatic. Aimee must give up her show-biz excesses, and Tritignant must forsake his much-younger mistress Marie-Sophie Pochat, in order to clear the decks for a happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi