Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi Movies

The rise and fall of one couple's marriage goes under the microscope in this drama from French filmmaker François Ozon. Gilles (Stephane Freis) and Marion (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) have filed for divorce following several years of marriage, and after the judge declares their union is over, the film follows the couple through five lengthy flashbacks, presented in reverse chronological order, in which glimpses of their lives together are shown, ending with the couple meeting for the first time. As the film follows the peaks and valleys of Gilles and Marion's relationship, viewers witness a few of the many small events that make up a marriage. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actress-cum-director Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi's sophomore feature, the comedy-drama Les Actrices (Le reve de la nuit d'avant), follows the trials and travails of Marcelline (Tedeschi), a tense and jittery stage thesp whose personal and professional life threaten to fall into pieces simultaneously. On a personal level, Marcelline hits the midpoint of her life, hears her biological clock ticking, and longs desperately for a child. At work, Marcelline's inability to find the core of her character, Natalia Petrovna, in a production of Turgenev's A Month in the Country only causes her emotional tension to double. In time, she regresses into such a basket case that she can barely respond to the stage director's query about whether she is right or left-handed. Marcelline's natty and overanxious mother (Marisa Borini, Tedeschi's mother in real life) weighs heavily on her as well, pressuring her constantly about the need to find an appropriate suitor before time runs out; instead, Marcelline finds herself drawn helplessly to Eric (Louis Garrel) a sexy young actor in the production - who, without her knowledge, nurtures reciprocal affections. This parallels the events that befall Petrovna in Turgenev's play, and indeed, at one point the spirit of Petrovna (Valeria Golino) appears to Marcelline for much-needed counsel. Meanwhile, as Marcelline weathers her own personal crises, one of her friends, Nathalie (Noemie Lvovsky) - the assistant to the play's director - struggles with her offstage lack of fulfillment as a wife and mother. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

The debate between gender roles and the nature of masculinity and femininity in the '90s provides the basis of this romantic comedy. Dan is divorced and designs ladies lingerie for a living. Sarah is a powerful business executive. She and Dan spend one night making passionate love and then lose track of each other. This is unfortunate, for each is interested in knowing the other better. Sensitive Dan spends much of the film discussing his plight to macho married-man Simon while career-oriented Sarah shares her thoughts with Michelle, a young beauty who allows herself to be abused by her married lover. As the four converse, they offer insight into the plight of modern men and women in a modern society. In the end, a pleasant twist of fate reunites the lonely Dan and Sarah. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this fantasy comedy/drama, Roberto (Sergio Rubini) is a divorce lawyer who is very conflicted about what he does for a living. In fact, he has a great deal of difficulty sleeping at night. Most people simply toss and turn; Roberto literally splits in two. One Roberto is a fanatic advocate of marriage and an opponent of divorce. He goes on a campaign advocating that couples seek counseling and get back together. Ironically, he becomes so jealous of his wife (Margherita Buy) that she leaves him. The other Roberto is an inveterate ladies' man, one hundred percent against romance and commitment. The women he has relationships with eventually want a little of each, and he, too is left alone. Their mutual desolation eventually pushes the two Robertos back together into one slightly wiser man. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The mid-life crisis of a middle-aged, depressive college professor/author provides the center of this French character study. Abel Vichac has really let himself go. Though a successful writer, and supposedly working on a book about 'regret,' he is barely functioning. He can't sleep at night. During the day he is easily distracted, irresponsible and moody. He also ignores his patient live-in lover Aliette who has stuck by him for 10 years. As he mopes through another day, he gets into several awkward occasions. One of his students, Florence tells him off in a café. A young woman, Catherine hears this and afterward introduces herself as a fan. Later he decides to find her address and visit her apartment. There Abel meets Catherine's roommate Aurore and the former's jealous boyfriend Bruno for a tense scene. He is returning home when Abel encounters his brother's former lover Olga and this creates more awkwardness. It all reaches the breaking point when Babel attends a birthday party, goes skinny dipping, and then has a telling encounter with a gun. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An elderly couple and their grown-up children must deal with the consequences of advancing age in this comedy-drama from France. Sarah (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) and her husband Francois (Arie Elmaleh) are a happy couple in their early forties who are facing with a dilemma not uncommon to folks their age -- what to do about Sarah's parents. While her mother Genevieve (Bulle Ogier) and father Solomon (Jean-Pierre Marielle) divorced when she was a teenager, they remain friends and see one another on a regular basis, while also staying close to their children. However, Genevieve has grown increasingly eccentric, and she's developed a bad habit of giving all her money to strangers, leaving her unable to pay her faithful servant Mr. Mootoosamy (Bakary Sangare). Holocaust survivor Solomon, meanwhile, is in sound body and mind beyond his fondness for tap dancing along with old movie musicals, but he can't understand why he can no longer get insurance just because he's eighty years old, though a new romance with college professor Violette (Sabine Azema) brightens his mood considerably. Faut Que Ca Danse! (aka Gotta Dance!) also stars Daniel Emilfork, Judith Chemla and Nicholas Maura; jazz great Artie Shepp provided the musical score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A wealthy but dysfunctional family teeters on the brink of collapse in this emotional drama leavened with a strong dose of dark comedy. Federica (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) is the daughter of a wealthy Italian business magnate (Roberto Herlitzka) who relocated himself and his family to France in the 1970s, after a wave of kidnappings among the rich and prominent led him to fear for their safety. Years later, Federica and her siblings -- brother Aurelio (Lambert Wilson) and sister Bianca (Chiara Mastroianni) -- still feel lost and disconnected, and with their father on his death bed, they each confront their feelings in their own way. Emotionally distant Aurelio plans a long and expensive vacation, while Bianca is in a sour mood that refuses to lift. Federica, who is attempting to establish herself as a playwright, tries to focus on her work, but she finds herself romantically torn between her current beau, down to earth Pierre (Jean-Hugues Anglade) and her former lover Philippe (Denis Podalydes), who despite his infatuation with her can't tear himself away from his wife and child. Il Est Plus Facile Pour un Chameau... was the first feature film from Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, who wrote and directed the film as well as playing Federica. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Paul (Dominic Guard) is a journalist who is up to date on the latest horrors of the modern world and is heartsick about them. He has a wife (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) and a steady job but leaves both of them suddenly for parts unknown. His wife is worried about him, and she is angry that he left without a word. She is sufficiently concerned to seek out one of Paul's former flames (Angela Molina) for information about where he might have gone. Soon, this girl has joined her in a quest to find Paul. They finally discover him in a Spanish resort town on the coast, moodily riding his motorcycle over the countryside and sharing philosophical musings with Antonio (Francisco Rabal), a magnetic older man who fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Romantic and sexual complexities brought on by the rivalry between these two attractive women add to Paul's malaise.
~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Former documentary filmmaker Mimmo Calopresti (The Second Time) made this Italian-French romantic drama that focuses on fragile and phobic 30-year-old Angela (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). She should have a comfortable life, yet she sinks into solitude, hungers for love, can't communicate with her wealthy mother (Daria Nicolodi), and makes decisions based on various colors and numbers. Her conversations with her mother are strained and formal, so she expresses her barren existence during visits to her psychoanalyst (Calopresti), who has problems of his own. A meeting with divorced cello teacher Marco (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) sets Angela veering in another direction, one with obsessive overtones. The absent-minded Marco has his own emotional needs, and his passivity is seen in contrast to his energetic teenage daughter Malvi (Emanuela Macchniz). Making anonymous overtures to Marco, Angela sends him fragments of Japanese love poems, but he simply thinks one of his students is responsible for the notes. After an argument with her analyst upsets her, Angela's anxieties increase. She checks herself into a psychiatric clinic where she finds a friend in fellow patient Sara (Marina Confalone). Indications during a later encounter with Marco suggest the two might indeed find a connection. Once down as a producer of this film, Gerard Depardieu instead did only a brief cameo appearance in the role of a lawyer. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide