André Genovès Movies

Michel Piccoli plays Simon, a French businessman reluctantly venturing into middle age. As he deals with his own midlife crisis, Simon becomes virtually oblivious to the social changes around him. The businessman tries to counter advancing age with an increased sex life, but finds that women aren't the same compliant creatures he remembers from his youth. Though the material is rife with opportunities for "radical" camerawork, director Claude Sautet chooses an austere, near-classic cinematic style, allowing us to concentrate more on the people in front of the camera rather than the person behind it. Featured in the cast of Mado is actress Romy Schneider, a Sautet favorite. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Directed by Catherine Breillat in 1975 but withheld from release for 25 years because Breillat's producer went bankrupt, Une Vraie Jeune Fille marked the director's feature debut. Like Breillat's controversial Romance (1999), Fille is concerned with the expression of female desire, and it takes a characteristically audacious approach to its subject. Striking close-ups of male and female genitalia, various bodily fluids, and graphic sexual fantasies make up a significant portion of the film, which charts the sexual awakening of the teenaged Alice (Charlotte Alexandra), who is vacationing with her parents in the country. Bored and restless, Alice spends much of her time lusting after Jim (Hiram Keller), a local sawmill worker. When not lusting after him, Alice fills the hours with such pursuits as writing her name on a mirror with vaginal secretions and wandering the fields with her underwear around her ankles. And, in true teenaged tradition, she spends a lot of time writing in her diary. Une Vraie Jeune Fille was adapted by Breillat from her third novel, 1974's Le soupirail, which she was commissioned to adapt for the screen by noted producer Andre Genoves. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Also known as Nada, The Nada Gang is a lesser effort from director Claude Chabrol. A group of European terrorists calling themselves the Nada kidnaps an American ambassador. Their hideout is besieged by a sadistic police official and his minions. Thanks to the official's eagerness to pull the trigger, everyone winds up dead, including the ambassador. The Nada Gang was based on a novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Docteur Popaul, or Scoundrel in White is a black comedy by Claude Chabrol. It tells of the life and proper comeuppance of Dr. Paul Simay (Jean Paul Belmondo), an unusual sort of ladies' man. At his hospital, there is a bet to see who can seduce the most ugly women. Paul is confident he can win, because he already woos ugly women exclusively. He says he gets much better results from them. When he woos and finally marries Christine (Mia Farrow), buck-teeth, leg-braces and all, he eventually discovers that he has more than met his match. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this ponderous French mystery-drama, based on an Ellery Queen story, blackmail would seem to be the least of the problems of Charles (Anthony Perkins). His adoptive father Theo (Orson Welles) has a madwoman for a mother, and a gorgeous woman of Charles' age (Marlene Jobert) for a wife. In fact, Charles is deeply attracted to her. In addition, his father encourages the whole family to dress in '20s clothing, which makes them all feel out of place. However, when he wakes in a strange bed with blood on his hands and no memory of anything the night before, he gets a little bit frantic. He calls Paul, his old professor of philosophy (Michel Piccoli), one of the few non-family members he can trust for discreet help. Theo has made his country estate into an eerily independent universe, not like anyplace else. Paul accompanies Charles to the father's strange home, and uses his philosophical training to try to solve the mystery of the bloody hands. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Agnes (Brigitte Bardot) is the nun who follows the order to the beach for a swim in the ocean. They shed their habits to reveal bathing suits worn underneath the robes. After swimming away from the group, Agnes is fortunate enough to find some perfectly fitting mod garb complete with accessories. A motor bike is also conveniently left for her to use, and she takes off on an adventurous romp. After wrecking the bike, she is taken into custody by the police and meets Lisa (Annie Girardot), a fun-loving hooker. Agnes tries to live the life of a prostitute but fails to make the erotic connection. After Lisa saves the nun from a group of drunken American sailors, Agnes takes a job riding in an ambulance, and Lisa uses the vehicle for a bordello on wheels. Eventually, a doctor (Jacques Duby) recognizes Agnes as a nun when she comes to him as a potential sex customer. After delivering a pregnant women to the hospital, Agnes and Lisa swim back to the group of nuns, don habits and blend back into the religious order. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Bored, wealthy Parisian socialite Frederique (Stéphane Audran, then director Claude Chabrol's wife and the star of many of his films) picks up young sidewalk artist Why (Jacqueline Sassard), brings her home, offers her a nice hot bath and coffee, and seduces her. Then Why follows Frederique to the latter's Saint-Tropez villa, where they alter their sensuous encounters with wild parties for the idle rich. At one of these parties, Why meets Paul (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a handsome young architect, and immediately falls for him. Jealous Frederique intervenes only to lure Paul into her own arms, and the two soon depart for Paris, leaving Why alone with her frustration at the villa. Though often labeled the French Hitchcock, here Chabrol consciously abandons suspense for adult-oriented drama. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

In this complex spy-thriller, the US radar installations in Greece are suddenly jammed and a NATO security agent is killed. The prime suspect is his own wife, who is innocent. She investigates on her own to prove it and ends up entangled in an espionage conspiracy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide