Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi Movies

Patrice Chereau (Queen Margot) directed this French drama about a train trip to an artist's funeral. Friends of painter Jean-Baptiste Emmerich (Jean-Louis Trintignant, seen in flashbacks) gather at a Paris railroad station for a four-hour journey to Limoges, where Emmerich wanted to be buried. The dozen travelers include art historian Francois (Pascal Greggory) and his lover Louis (Bruno Todeschini), who develops an interest in teenage Bruno (Sylvain Jacques). Traveling parallel with the train is a station wagon with Jean-Baptiste's body, and this vehicle is driven by Thierry (Roschdy Zem), husband of Catherine (Dominique Blanc), who's on the train with their daughter. Francois plays a taped interview with Jean-Baptiste, revealing his sexual appeal to both men and women. Lucie (Marie Daems) is convinced that she was his main love. Also on board is his nephew, Jean-Marie (Charles Berling) and Jean-Marie's estranged wife, Claire (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), After the funeral in "Europe's largest cemetery," the storyline continues in the mansion of Jean-Baptiste's brother, Lucien (also played by Trintignant). With hand-held camerawork for almost two-thirds of the film, the production involved two extra cars connected to a real scheduled train, headed one way in the morning and returning in the afternoon, with cast and crew logging some 12,000 kilometers over two weeks. Source music runs the gamut from James Brown to Jim Morrison. The title refers to the dying words uttered by the painter -- which actually are the last words spoken by filmmaker Francois Reichenbach who died in 1993 (and appropriated here by his friend, co-scripter Daniele Thompson). One of Francois Reichenbach's best-known films (and subject of an entire book) is the documentary Medicine Ball Caravan (aka We Have Come for Your Daughters,1971), a curious effort to duplicate the success of Woodstock (1970) by simply inviting a large number of musicians, hippies, and counterculture types aboard a cross-country train and filming the result. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, 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

This French drama chronicles the romantic exploits of a Parisian alcoholic who falls in love with the wife of his drinking buddy. Fortunately for him, the wife has a twin sister whom the drunk manages to locate. He then convinces her to return to Paris with him where they go to the Montana jazz bar and express their mutual love through song. ~ Sandra Brennan, 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

A hangdog, middle-aged painter falls in love with a tender young college student after he leaves his philandering wife and his children in this romantic French drama. To console himself, the fundamentally bohemian Phillippe finds comfort in the arms of various prostitutes, especially Valeria. It is while searching for her that he meets lovely Justine, the student. Sparks fly and they move into together. Things go well until Phillippe begins pining for his children. This makes insecure Justine terribly jealous and tumult erupts until the aging artist is able to discover the true source of his anxieties. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A successful prostitute attempts to fashion a homeless man into her ideal pimp in this unconventional, darkly humorous French drama. Marie (Anouk Grinberg) has no real need for a pimp, being a self-reliant, unabashed woman so fond of her job as a hooker that she is able to convince strangers to try it themselves. Indeed, her financial success allows her to take care of Jeannot (Gérard Lanvin), an impoverished vagrant whom she finds on the streets. She provides him with a bath and a place to sleep, and the two rapidly become lovers. Nevertheless, Marie is soon imploring Jeannot to act as her pimp, begging him to slap her around and take her money. He takes to his new role and soon decides to talk a manicurist (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) into becoming the next member of his stable. The newcomer's inexperience proves to be his downfall, however, as the manicurist lands him in trouble with the law. Director Bertrand Blier attempts to create a controversial look at sexuality by combining black comedy with scenes of smoky sensuality, though many critics found the central premise and the presentation of Marie's contradictory, masochistic character too unconvincing for the film to be fully successful. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This film follows the exploits of a young middle-class girl obsessed with love. The viewer will either love or hate the protagonist as she struggles through her confusion to find true love. Neurotic Nathalie wants love, but cannot make up her mind. She throws her nice boyfriend Antoine out while simultaneously stalking Eric, the hospital orderly who rejected her. Nathalie then tries to sleep with her best friend Christine's boyfriend Fabrice. Fabrice almost gives in, but suddenly rejects Nat. Nathalie is broken hearted and subsequently becomes more depressed and morally bankrupt. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This unique French offering is a compilation of 30 short films focused on AIDS. The mini-films were based on over 3,000 ideas put in by French school children and were made by filmmakers on a voluntary basis. Most of the vignettes deal with heterosexuality and AIDS, but one deals with drug-usage, and one with homosexuality. It took four production houses three years to create this inspirational and informative film. ~ 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

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

One might assume that the original title of this French production was C'est La Vie. Wrong: the film was initially released as La Baule-les-Pins, then distributed to English speaking countries under a more "understandable" French cognomen. The film is set during a deceptively idyllic summer. Two young girls are fascinated bystanders as their parents' marriage dissolves and their mother takes up with a younger man. What might have been material for tear-stained drama in an American film is treated with perceptive humor in C'est La Vie. Director Diane Kurys cowrote the screenplay with Alain Le Henry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Story of Boys and Girls is about a rural Italian girl who invites the family of her rich Bolognese fiance over for a 20-course banquet at her home. Over the course of the meal, both families talk about many different topics, revealing a number of secrets along the way. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide