Antoine Lacomblez Movies

Directed by Ray Sandrine, Vivante follows the changes in the life of a young woman after being brutally gang-raped. When 19-year-old Parisian student Claire (Vahina Giocante) is sexually assaulted by four men, she doesn't tell anyone. Rather, she opts to drop out of school and begin a dangerous and decidely more promiscuous existence. Though her newfound habits of incessant clubbing, casual sex, and ominous flirtations with substance abuse leave her brother and father dismayed, Claire shows no signs of slowing down until a sympathetic older woman and a particularly sensitive boyfriend offer the insight needed to pull her out of an increasingly reckless lifestyle. Vicante also stars Samuel Jouy, Francois Berleand, Fanny Cottencon, and Pierre Cassignard. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

The bitter legacy of the French/Algerian War set the stage of this drama from director Alexandre Arcady, himself a Frenchman of Algerian birth. Pierre Nivel (Antoine DeCaunes) is a noted French television journalist and network anchorman. One day, he receives an unexpected visitor, an Algerian man with a message from someone named Leila. Pierre was born in Algeria, and he lived there until he was 17, when the French were forced to leave after Algeria won its independence in 1962. He's kept his Algerian past a secret from most of his friends and colleagues, but the note from Leila, his teenage sweetheart, leads him back to the land of his birth. It turns out that Leila now has a grown daughter, Amina (Nozha Khouadra), and Leila needs Pierre's help to smuggle her and her daughter out of the country. A defiant woman, Amina's refusal to go through with an arranged marriage to a fundamentalist and removal of her veil in public has put both herself and her family in great danger. La Bas ... Mon Pays/Return to Algiers was the first French production to be shot on location in Algeria since the nation won its independence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Zac is a well-respected French filmmaker who creates a major uproar when for no apparent reason he suddenly vanishes from his posh Parisian apartment leaving behind his lover Helene, a popular star. Marcus, his producer searches for eight months before locating Zac who has since become a homeless street bum in an expensive neighborhood. Marcus sends Zac to a posh hotel. He then sends Daisy, an ambitious secretary and aspiring screenwriter to learn what happened to the great director. It takes a lot of mutual verbal sparring and false turns (which are presented as creatively filmed vignettes that are done using a variety of techniques) from Zac before he finally tells her the truth. The two then decide to turn the story into a film. As they write, Daisy and Zac slowly fall in love. At the same time, Marcus has his hands full trying to avoid some tough Russian Mafiosos who want the money they invested back. In order to make Zac and Daisy's film, the whole production is moved to the relative safety of South Africa. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A menage-a-trois between rival sisters and a boyfriend provide the dramatic focus of this French film. The sisters Alice and Elsa have been apart for two years. Alice, a painter, lives in Paris with her lover Franc. Problems for the happy couple ensue when Elsa suddenly appears at their door after leaving her cheating husband and two children. Elsa immediately begins trying to dominate their lives. Alice wants the out-of-control Elsa to leave, but then suddenly changes her mind. To thank her, Elsa destroys her art studio, has sex with Franc, convinces him that Alice is unbalanced, and then ties Alice up in her apartment. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Diane Kurys and Antoine Lacomblez wrote this drama of a woman novelist and her troubled, 20-year relationship with a man who has fathered two children with another woman. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

This drama concerns a young woman who takes far too long to grow up. Nanou (Imogen Stubbs) skips out of England to bum around Europe and have some adventures. Leaving Geneva behind after a stint at waitressing, she meets and eventually moves in with a roust-about named Luc (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey). Luc is ostensibly a '60s revolutionary, spouting all the right jargon and apparently committed to noble but illegal activities that help the working masses. He involves Nanou in his shenanigans, which include anything from dashing off political grafitti to a plot to blow up a railroad track. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide