Anna Karina Movies

Thirty-five years after directing her first feature film, iconic actress Anna Karina once again steps behind the camera for this charming comedy-drama shot in Canada. Jimmy (Emmanuel Reichenbach) and Stanislas (Jean-Francois Moran) are a pair of nightclub performers who play second-rate gay nightclubs as part of a drag act called "Les Lolitas." However, their nerve outstrips their talent, and one eventful night they're been booed off the stage and land in jail after getting into a fistfight when good fortune finally smiles on them. Jimmy and Stanislas are bailed out by Louis Jardin (Woodson Louis), a stylish talent agent who offers "Les Lolitas" a tour of Quebec with an impressive payday. Jimmy and Stanislas leap at the chance, but soon discover they're traveling with Victoria (Anna Karina), a woman in her mid-sixties who can't speak and is putting up the money for the tour. The guys both find romance while touring the wilds of French Canada -- Jimmy hooks up with Susanna (Sophie Desmarais), a nervous teenager with a drug problem, while Stanislas more sensibly pairs up with Pauline (Sylvie De Morais-Nogueira), who works at a hotel where the duo is staying. But Victoria doesn't like to keep Jimmy and Stanislas out of her sight, and in time we discover there's a good reason why she's so fascinated with two second-rate female impersonators. Victoria received its world premiere at the 2008 Pusan International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Jonathan Demme filters the classic Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant vehicle Charade through the influence of the French New Wave in this stylish romantic thriller. Regina Lambert (Thandie Newton) has been having second thoughts about her marriage to the often enigmatic art dealer Charlie (Stephen Dillane), and decides to take a vacation without him, where she meets Joshua Peters (Mark Wahlberg), a handsome and charming American who seems quite taken with her. When Regina returns home to Paris, she receives the startling news that her husband has been murdered; however, even more disturbing is her discovery that her husband had a secret life which involved several passports under different identities, and a missing six million dollars. Police official Commandant Dominique (Christine Boisson) seems to believe that Regina is somehow involved in the crime, while U.S. embassy representative Mr. Bartholomew (Tim Robbins) breaks the news to Regina that her late husband was actually a secret agent involved in some very shady operations. Three mysterious and dangerous figures who had ties to Charlie -- Emil Zadapec (Ted Levine), Lola Jansco (Lisa Gay Hamilton), and Il-Sang Lee (Joong-Hoon Park) -- also arrive in Paris, convinced that Regina knows where her husband stashed the money and determined to get their hands on it. Meanwhile, as Regina's life becomes increasingly chaotic and dangerous, Joshua arrives in Paris and a romance begins to blossom between them, but while he seems determined to do whatever he can to help her, Regina soon has reason to doubt that Joshua's motives are as pure as they seem. Shot on location in Paris, The Truth About Charlie also features cameo appearances from a number of legendary French actors and filmmakers, including Charles Aznavour, Anna Karina, and Agnès Varda. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Three modern Parisian women form the basis of this epic musical comedy from famed director Jacques Rivette. The story is set in summer and follows the predestined path of each woman. Louise has just awoken from a five year coma and has been released from the hospital. She moves to a hotel where she learns from talking to her father on the phone that her late aunt has bequeathed her a large chateau in Paris. Ninon works as a courier. She has recently run away from her creepy boyfriend, a criminal, and though she is trying to go straight, she can't help but rob the company cashbox and use the money to go out dancing. The third woman, Ida, is a librarian in a decorative-arts reading room. As a child, she was adopted and now wants to find her real parents. Her only clue to finding her mother is an old song that she vaguely remembers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In a bleak future strangely similar to that depicted in Fahrenheit 451, any form of literature (especially fiction) which depicts any taboo thought or emotions (including guilt) is quickly burned, if it somehow manages to get printed in the first place. In this story, Adam (Jesper Klein) is a writer whose works have come to the attention of the authorities, a sinister cabal of politicians and psychiatrists. One evening, his wife says things which make him believe she has been brainwashed into following the official view, and he flies into a rage and attacks her. He is taken away to a mental institution, all the while believing she is dead, and that he killed her. He is puzzled when he is released and told to get on with life. He can find no evidence that his wife or his son ever existed. In the course of looking for them, he seeks out his underground publisher. He was followed the whole time, and the publisher was the government's real quarry. He is reunited with his wife and child, and they appear to be one happy (if entirely vacuous) family again, but they surely know that they are being watched very closely. The story is based on a novel by Henrik Stangerup. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Valeria Golino plays a double role in this thrilling crime drama. A woman returns years later to Tangiers in order to track down the thugs responsible for the gangland-style massacre that killed her father. Corrigan (Thierry Lhermitte) is the local detective recruited to find the international crime boss (Roger Hanin). The heroine seduces the kingpin's son (Vincent Lindon) in order to discover where the killers are hidden then methodically sets out to destroy them. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In a murder mystery cum love story, Tommy (Scott Renderer) is looking for the reason why his brother Billy, a rock musician, is suddenly dead in Paris -- and discovers more than he ever wanted to know about his sibling. After Tommy arrives in the City of Light he talks with Billy's sleazy widow, who bad-mouths the deceased without regret. Next he finds out his brother's friends were anything but Boy Scouts; he eventually discovers Billy had a transvestite lover who is also dead. In the meantime, Tommy finds that drugs were also involved and it becomes clear Billy was murdered. After running into Billy's old girlfriend Julie (Gabrielle Lazure), Tom starts a torrid affair with her, though that will probably not derail his investigation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Ava Gardner made her last theatrical film appearance in the German-Italian Regina. Gardner is cast as the Smothering Mom to end them all, determined to keep her middle-aged son Ray Sharkey tightly bound to her emotional umbilical cord. Gardner's husband Anthony Quinn bemoans her treatment of Sharkey, but is essentially powerless (we'd say impotent, but we're talking about Anthony Quinn here!) Regina wasn't released theatrically in the US, but has in recent years surfaced in an unrated (but very gamey) videocassette version. Need we add: this one is not for all tastes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This symbolic drama is loosely based on a somber story from Hans Christian Andersen. Daniel Duval plays Death, not in the usual grim reaper sense but merely as a man in a grey flannel suit. The Mother (Anna Karina) offers her hair to a guardian of Death's Garden, her eyes to a vehement protest marcher, and her embrace to a man who is freezing. Death allows the Mother to get past her grief as her son lays dying. Tove Maes plays the Kindergarten Teacher, with Bodil Udsen as the Lady Janitor and Gustaf Hagstroem as the ill-fated child. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this comedy, over-achieving men who are involved in a multi-car automobile accident meet and get to know one another in the hospital. One collects old furniture under the guise of being an antique salesman, another stars in television commercials, and another is an inventor. Meanwhile, the wives of three of them meet and get a taste of freedom without their husbands. Eventually their differences are resolved and happiness is enjoyed by all. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Angela is the crippled daughter of two separated but still-feuding parents. In this Rainer Werner Fassbinder film, the wealthy parents are both induced to come to their country vacation house with their lovers in tow. For years, they have tried to make Angela feel guilty for having driven them to seek comfort outside their marriage, though ironically there is some indication that their dalliances may have had a hand in the accident that caused her condition. In this unpleasant milieu, they begin playing a truth-telling game called "Chinese Roulette," which leads to even more distasteful revelations and recriminations.. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The young man in this story is a dedicated musician, a clarinettist. He is, in fact, too dedicated, because he has very limited talents and abilities. Refusing to face the facts of his limitations, he is hard on himself and everyone around him. After the conductor of the orchestra he has been playing in commits suicide, he is left with a quite valuable violin. His decisions about what to do with it motivate his actions throughout the rest of the film. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A hard-working Sicilian heads for Switzerland in search of a better life in this gentle, sweet-sour Italian comedy. Despite the poor fellow's best efforts to fit in with his neighbors, he never quite seems to make it. Of course his tragedy is the audience's delight. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi