Pierre Grunstein Movies

Music aficionados in the U.S. might remember Jeannine Deckers by her stage name, The Singing Nun -- performer of the one-hit-wonder "Dominique," which topped the U.S. pop charts for ten weeks in 1963, displaced the Kingsmen's seminal "Louie, Louie," and inspired the Debbie Reynolds musical The Singing Nun as a fictionalized version of Deckers' life. Behind the gloss, however, Deckers led one of the most unusual lives of any late 20th century European celebrity. With Soeur Sourire, director Stijn Coninx tells the performer's strange story. The tale opens in 1959, when young Belgian girl Jeannine (Cecile de France) flees her parents' strictly conservative home, and moves into a Dominican convent. While there, she chafes beneath the restrictions thrust onto her -- such as the inability to sing and play her guitar -- but begins quietly authoring songs. She impulsively books time in the Phillips studio to record one of the tunes, planning to donate to charity the monies earned from the song, but Phillips executives overhear it and grow so enthusiastic that they offer Deckers a recording contract under the stage name "Soeur Sourire" (or "Sister Smile,") and turn her into an international sensation. Then, at the pinnacle of her success, not long after The Ed Sullivan Show travels to Belgium to film her, she struggles with an attempted reconciliation between her religious faith and beckoning pop stardom. Deckers ultimately shocks everyone by shucking Catholicism, pursuing a full-time career as a recording star, recording radically left-wing protest songs, and taking up with a lesbian partner, Annie (Sandrine Blancke). The two fall deeply in love and open a school together for autistic children, but Jeannine's world falls apart when the Belgian government comes calling and informs her that she owes a fortune in back taxes for "Dominique" profits that she originally donated to charity. This actually marked the second of two major features within a ten-year period to cover Deckers' life -- the first, 2001's Suor Sorriso, utilized an experimental, non-linear approach and received mostly scathing reviews. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed director Claude Berri (Jean de Florette) helms the whimsical romantic comedy Ensemble, c'est tout (Hunting and Gathering, 2007). A box office blockbuster in France, the picture follows the romantic couplings that form in the lives of several lonely Parisian singles. The lead characters include: an emotionally fragile, exhausted cleaning lady named Camille (Audrey Tatou) who is suffering from anorexia; a well-to-do young man named Phillibert struggling with his own sexual orientation (Laurent Stocker) but who begins to drift toward heterosexuality and a stable relationship with a woman; and Phillibert's rebellious pothead roommate Franck (Guillaume Canet), who can never quite breach the possibility of committing to one woman, or come face to face with his dream of opening a French restaurant - until he meets Camille and the pieces begin to fall into place. Writer-director Berri adapted the novel by Anna Gavaldi. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

An American girl follows her heart and her dreams to the Middle East in this romantic comedy-drama. Lola (Laura Ramsey) was born and raised in Wisconsin but has moved to Manhattan in hopes of finding a more exciting career, though so far she's making ends meet working as a letter carrier. Lola's secret passion is belly dancing, and she devotes her spare time to lessons in the ancient art; her close friend Yussef (Achmed Akkabi) offers encouragement, but so far she's only been able to perform in public at a ratty strip club. While delivering mail, Lola meets Zach (Assad Bouab), the handsome son of a wealthy Egyptian family who is studying business in the United States. Zach is clearly attracted to Lola, and it isn't long before she finds herself falling for him, and when he's called home on short notice, Lola decides buy a ticket to Cairo to follow him. It doesn't take long for Lola to realize that while Zach may have pursued her in New York, he's not about to at home, but she becomes fascinated with Cairo and decides to stay for a while in hopes of learning belly dancing in the land where it was born. Lola finds Ismahan (Carmen Lebbos), once one of the world's greatest belly dancers, and asks her for lessons, but Lola learns she retired in disgrace after a scandal and luring her back into action is no easy task. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Writer, director, and actor Yvan Attal takes another look at the ups and downs of love and monogamy in this biting romantic comedy. Vincent (Yvan Attal), Fred (Alain Cohen), and Georges (Alain Chabat) are three Parisian men in their early forties who are coming to the unfortunate realization that their love lives are not what they dreamed of in their youth. Vincent is married to Gabrielle (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and while there's still some spark left in their marriage, it usually appears only after an argument. Vincent is having a furtive affair with a beautiful woman (Angie David), while Gabrielle is tempted to do the same when a handsome man in a record shop (Johnny Depp) begins silently flirting with her. Fred is the bachelor of the group, and seems to have an endless parade of women passing through his bedroom, but no one misses the fact that he longs for the sort of long-term relationship that has so far evaded him. And Georges is reaching the end of his rope with his wife, Nathalie (Emmanuelle Seigner), an abrasive feminist who insists on making every aspect of their lives a political matter, but lacking the courage to break up with her, Georges deals with his feelings in the traditional manner -- he buys a new car. Happily Ever After was Attal's first project as writer and director after his international hit Ma Femme Est une Actrice. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two seemingly happily married French couples are forced to contend with a number of issues in director Noemie Lvovsky's 2003 marriage comedy drama Les Sentiments. Nearing the end of his career, small-town doctor Jacques (Jean-Pierre Bacri) and his wife Carole (Nathalie Baye) are relatively content with their lives and marriage. When Francois (Melvil Poupaud) -- the new doctor taking over Jacques' practice -- and his young bride Edith (Isabelle Carré) move in next door, Jacques and Carole are ecstatic when they learn that the newcomers have a lot in common with them. While both the men and women bond with each other, Jacques also begins to take a sexual interest in Edith that she is all too willing to indulge. As their affair quickly ignites, both Jacques and Edith find their respective outlooks on life have been renewed while they also deludedly hold on to the notion that they can successfully pull off their affair without causing damage to their marriages. Les Sentiments was included in the programs for the 2003 Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

One of France's most respected filmmakers, Claude Berri here brings viewers the story of Jacques (Jean-Pierre Bacri) a middle-aged sound engineer whose wife has just left him. Living on his own for the first time in years, Jacques decides it's high time to clean up his life, literally and figuratively. In short order he hires Laura (Emilie Dequenne, a bright, vivacious young housekeeper, to bring order to his apartment. Laura's presence makes Jacques realize what has been missing from his life, and as their relationship evolves over the subsequent months, both Jacques and Laura gain uncomfortable knowledge of one another, and of themselves. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

The collective crimes against humanity known as the Holocaust have been well-documented since the end of World War II, but lingering questions remain about how much was known about the Nazi mass-extermination schemes outside Germany, and what could have been done to prevent them. Political filmmaker Costa-Gavras confronts this thorny issue in this film, adapted from the stage drama The Representative and based in part on actual events. Kurt Gerstein (Ulrich Tukar) is a German chemist whose work on various government health projects led to him being added to the scientific staff of the Nazi SS. While working on disinfection and water purification programs to stem the tide of typhoid among German troops, Gerstein creates a toxic cleanser called Zyclon B. Gerstein soon learns that the SS has found a different use for Zyclon B -- in gas form, it is being used to exterminate Jews and other political undesirables en masse. Gerstein, a man of strong Christian faith, is horrified by this revelation, and he is determined to tell the world in hope of stopping the genocide; however, in Germany, Sweden, and the United States, Gerstein's story falls on deaf ears. One man who does believe Gerstein is Riccardo Fontana (Mathieu Kassovitz), a Jesuit with ties to the Vatican and close contact with Pope Pius XII (Marcel Iures). Fontana urges the Pope to speak out against the ongoing massacre, but the Pope declines, believing Russia is a greater menace to the Catholic Church than the Nazis. In time, desperate to spread the word of the holocaust, Gerstein and Fontana find themselves joining ranks with Roman Jews being rounded up by Nazi forces in occupied Italy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This French romantic comedy-drama concerns Claude Langmann (Claude Berri, who is also the director) a middle-aged auctioneer who is in a loving marriage with his second wife of 15 years. Though he is deeply in love with his wife and has remained faithful to her, he finds himself unable to perform in bed. His wife says she is satisfied with Claude's love and tenderness, but he visits a sex specialist anyway. There he learns of Viagra, which is not yet approved in France, though it is available in Switzerland over the counter. Soon Claude is on his way to Geneva, and eager to prove his manhood, tries to bed Agnes, his very attractive and very available assistant. His daughter, who also comes along for the trip, interferes with her own problems. La Debandade is a lightly funny, touching looking at male sexuality during life's later years. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Writer-director Michel Blanc, whose previous works include the acclaimed Marche a l'ombre (1984) and Dead Tired (1994), creates this gritty drama about a middle-aged impoverished French writer in London who becomes a gigolo. The film opens with Pierre (Daniel Auteuil) getting worked over by an irate pimp because he didn't pay for a hooker's drink. Rakish Irishman Tom (Stuart Townsend) offers to drive bloodied Pierre back to his seedy hotel. The following day, he stumbles upon Tom's sandwich bar and begs for a job. Though he describes himself as a dead-broke author working on a novel, Pierre is concealing secrets from his dark past. Later, during a party populated with well-turned out lesbians, Tom reveals that he moonlights as a gigolo and suggests that Pierre might try the same. Soon Pierre is making easy money at the same agency where Tom works. Things get complicated for our Gallic protagonist when he falls for a golden-hearted streetwalker with a psychotic ex-boyfriend and one of his married regulars falls for him. Told with wry wit and gritty honesty, this film explores London's dark sexual netherworld. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

A middle-aged, slightly pudgy and earthy waitress finds herself wooed by a handsome marine animal trainer from a local theme park. Arlette (comedienne Josiane Balasko, France's answer to Roseanne) has no idea that she is the long-lost heir to the vast fortune of a dying business tycoon. Her new suitor Franck (Christophe Lambert), who is dangerously indebted to Las Vegas gamblers, is well-aware of her status and is being forced by the gamblers to court and marry her so they can later kill her and collect her inheritance. As this is a comedy, the story takes several humorous twists and turns, especially when Franck really does fall in love with the feisty Arlette and comes clean about the scheme. This leads Arlette and Franck to hatch their own plan for turning the tables on the crooks. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Directed by Didier Bourdon, a member of the French comedy troupe Les Inconnus, this comedy stars Bourdon and other members of the troupe. Bourdon plays one of three half-brothers who have been separated since childhood and are reunited when they come to their mother's funeral. They discover that she has left them a considerable family fortune. Each of them begins spending his share of the money on lavish things. Two days later, they are told that they are not getting the money after all because it is being donated to charitable causes. One of them also discovers that he has a young son he never knew about. With the child, the three brothers are chased by the police because they have run up debts they cannot pay. To elude the authorities, they practice various con games, steal vehicles, and wreak havoc on the French countryside. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

French director Christian Vincent charts the dissolution of a long-term relationship with his third film, based on the novel by Dan Franck. Daniel Auteuil and Isabelle Huppert star as Pierre and Anne, a couple who have been living together as husband and wife for several years. Although they never married, they do have a fifteen-month-old son, Loulou. One night at the cinema, Anne refuses to take Pierre's hand and the strained moment leads to her confession that she has fallen in love with another man. Although Pierre seems at first to take the news calmly, he becomes increasingly desperate and enraged as the days pass, while the distant Anne walks a fine line between embarking on a new romance and trying not to hurt Pierre too greatly. When a pair of friends, Victor (Jerome Deschamps) and Claire (Karin Viard), announce that they are finally marrying after their own years-long relationship, it sparks a final confrontation between Pierre and Anne. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Claude Berri's angry, ambitious epic, based on the 19th-century novel by Emile Zola, re-creates, as does the novel, the gut-wrenching poverty and the intense day-by-day struggles of striking French coal-miners in 1884 at the Voreux mines of France. The film centers upon the bitter toils of Maheu (Gerard Depardieu) and his family -- consisting of his iron-willed wife (Miou-Miou) and their daughter Catherine (Judith Henry), who also works in the mines. When a new miner, Etienne Lantier (Renaud), comes to Voreux to seek work, he is befriended by Maheu, who takes him on his mining crew and allows him to stay at his home. Etienne is also an organizer for a new miner's union and, as conditions in the Voreux mines worsen, Etienne convinces Maheu to organize a miner's strike. Meanwhile, Etienne is attracted to Catherine, and Catherine to him, but she doesn't act upon her feelings, taking up, instead, with Chaval (Jean-Roger Milo), a local ne'er do well. As conditions in the mines become more desperate and unsafe, and the owners propose to cut wages, Maheu at last stages a massive strike of the miners. When that happens, the owners send in armed soldiers to defend the mines. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide