Cédric Kahn Movies

A man and a woman each learn a painful lesson about using others to get what you want in this drama from French director Catherine Corsini. Julien Demarsay (Eric Caravaca) is an aspiring novelist whose greatest ambition in life is to publish a book; however, he hasn't been able to get a publisher to seriously consider his manuscripts, and he's started becoming desperate. Julien arranges to meet Judith Zahn (Karin Viard), a well-respected editor; she doesn't think he's especially talented, but she does find him handsome, and they strike up an acquaintance that quickly leads to her bedroom. Julien is looking for ways to use his new relationship with Judith to his advantage, and in time he becomes aware of the true story of Judith's father, who went from being a pacifist philosopher to fighting with a revolutionary group in Latin America in the 1970's. Julien uses this story as the basis of a novel; when he completes it he presents it to Judith, who regards it as a betrayal of their trust and cuts off ties with him. Julien, however, is able to find a publisher who believes in the book, and it becomes a commercial success. Enraged, Judith begin mapping out a scheme to get revenge on her former lover. Les Ambitieux (aka Ambitious) was screened as part of the 2006 Rome International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A couple's marital woes lead to a terrifying ordeal in director Cédric Kahn's Red Lights. Co-written by Gilles Marchand (Who Killed Bambi?) and Kahn's frequent writing partner Laurence Ferreira Barbosa, Red Lights is based on a novel by Georges Simenon. In the film, Antoine (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) seems to be looking forward to taking his wife, Hélène (Carole Bouquet), for a long drive. The plan is to leave Paris and pick up their children at camp that evening, then spend a couple of weeks in the country relaxing. But when Hélène keeps him waiting, Antoine begins to drink. After several beers and a scotch, the couple hit the road, and immediately run into traffic leaving the city. Antoine has been hearing stories of horrible accidents on the road all evening, but that doesn't stop him from driving like a madman. When Hélène complains about his erratic driving, things just get worse. When they're not bickering, they're glaring silently out at the dark road. Eventually, Antoine decides to pull over for another drink, and when Hélène threatens to take the car and continue on without him, he takes the keys with him into the bar. When he gets out, he finds that Hélène has gone, leaving a note on the car saying she's continuing on by train. Antoine races to the train station, but he's too late, so he wanders into a nearby bar. There, he buys a drink for a sullen young man (Vincent Deniard), who later approaches him in the parking lot, asking for a ride. The two soon come to a police roadblock, and Antoine begins to suspect that his traveling companion is the escaped fugitive for whom the cops are looking. Red Lights had its U.S. premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Noted French filmmaker Laurence Ferreira Barbosa directs this loosely-structured triptych about a trio of unconnected people who struggle through the loneliness of their lives. Impetuous 17-year-old Marguerite (Lolita Chammah), who feels cut off from both her family and classmates, passes the time by talking to God. Eventually, she decides to enter a convent. Meanwhile, housewife Claire (Isabelle Hubbert) is frustrated after ten years of childless marriage. While going to visit a fertility expert in Paris, she happens upon an old lover, gets picked up by some guy at a bar and has a bizarre encounter with an America singer (Robert Kramer). Meantime, Jacques (Frederic Pierrot) is divorced, unemployed, and loathed by his daughter. Just as his life looks one long exercise in desperate futility, he meets comely Eva (Juliette Andrea). Suddenly, he transforms himself into a private dick, trying to track down a missing associate. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this French language film, which harkens back to detective films of the '50s, senior acting students from the National Theater of Strasbourg (France) play at being hardened has-beens. There is some novelty in a film in which all the actors are in their early 20s. The story concerns the efforts of a young man to unravel the story behind the suicide of his brother. As he proceeds with his investigations, he runs across a revolutionary underground organization and a host of shady and untrustworthy characters. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This slice-of-life, coming of age film won the Jean Vigo award, an important French filmmaking prize. The story concerns a group of high school students who are on the verge of graduating. They are also about to enter into the adult responsibilities of life, but before they do, they get together for one last infinitely long but too-short moment. One of them is Valerie, a popular girl who has just been expelled from school. She gets together for an evening with her girlfriend Mathilde, Didier, the boy she adores, and that boy's best friend, Kamel. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Martine (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) hasn't been quite right in the head since she suffered a romantic reversal several years before, but she had been getting by in the regular world fairly well. However, when her current boyfriend tells her he's leaving, she promptly butts her head into a door so hard that she suffers from amnesia and is placed in a mental ward. There, she devotes her not inconsiderable energy and inventiveness to improving the romantic lives of her fellow patients. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Marion is a young unmarried mother who lives in the same wrong-side-of-the-tracks neighborhood as Richard and his mother. Richard is just getting to the point in his adolescence when he is not only interested in women but wants to do something about that. Richard's mother is a seamstress, and Marion is one of her customers. Before long, Marion has fallen in love with Richard, who is too callow to know what's happening between them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide