Arlette Langmann Movies

Neglected by her husband and longing for companionship, lonely Hollywood actress Carole enters into a passionate affair with a photographer who has been assigned to capture her portrait. Filmmaker Philippe Garrel directs a drama starring Louis Garrel, Clémentine Poidatz, and Laura Smet. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A man creating a cautionary tale about drug abuse finds himself and his lover drawn into the deadly web of heroin in this drama. Francois Mauge (Mehdi Behaj Kacem) is a filmmaker who is still dealing with the death of his wife, a well-known model and actress who succumbed to drugs. Determined to make a statement about his loss through his work, Francois decides to direct a film about a woman struggling with addiction called "Wild Innocence," and casts an attractive young actress named Lucie (Julia Faure) in the leading role. Francois soon falls for Lucie and they become lovers, but Francois loses financing for his project, and in order to continue filming, he approaches a less-than-scrupulous financier, Chas (Michel Subor), who was friends with Francois' late wife. Chas offers to back the movie, but under one condition -- Francois has to help him smuggle a large quantity of heroin into France. As if this ugly irony were not enough, Lucie develops a curiosity about drugs while researching her role, and tries snorting heroin; before long, she's devolved into a full-blown addict. Philippe Garrel's film was inspired in part by his romance with Nico, the noted model, musician, and actress who herself developed a very serious drug habit during the course of their relationship. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

With a few sly nods toward Hitchcock, this romantic French crime thriller follows book editor Pierre Duval down a ruinous road of illicit passion, treachery, mystery and murder. His fateful journey begins when his married lover Claire Jaillac tells him that she is going to move to the Moroccan wilds with her husband, an engineer who has been hired to oversee the construction of a dam. Not wanting to give up a good thing with no fight, Duval arranges to write her husband's biography and accompany them. Unfortunately Duval and Bernard Jaillac get on the plane, but Claire does not. They are not their long before Duval begins to suspect that he is the object of a deadly conspiracy. Despite his growing paranoia, Duval keeps quiet. On the day he finally decides to speak up, a plane lands and out steps Claire Jaillac. But she is not the Claire that Duval loved. This is an entirely different woman, a real stranger. This leaves Duval to begin trying to figure out his lover's true identity. The new Claire has other plans though and after she seduces Duval, she presents him with a dark plan that seals his fate. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this French coming-of-age drama a 15-year old boy breaks free from his fixation with his older half-sister and learns to trust himself and become independent. The story is set in a rural French town. When his wild half-sister Vivien finally returns home after an eight year absence, young Marc is ecstatic. He is awed by her free-wheeling, independent life. He quietly follows her every move, living vicariously through her. She becomes his teacher, but as Marc observes her more closely he begins to see that his sister has no real sense of self-worth. Her promiscuity is only a mask to hide her lack of self-respect. Marc begins to withdraw and follow his own path. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this measured, leisurely paced melodrama, a kindly village pharmacist is transformed by drink into a brute when he leaves work and returns home, terrorizing his wife, son, and handicapped daughter. When his drinking causes problems on the job, he checks into a rehabilitation clinic and for a brief time afterwards his family relations are better. However, drink has not lost its spell over him, and he soon returns to the bottle more avidly than before, with tragic results. This first-time feature by director Xavier Beauvois won the critics' award at the 1991 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Wise beyond her 15 years, Juliette (Judith Godreche) has developed a curious modus operandi in matters of the heart. She goes out of her way to befriend older men, sleeps with each of her conquests but once, then moves on. Director Jacques Doillon plays the father of Juliette's latest beau; the boy's father hopes to break the girl's love-em-and-leave-em pattern by bedding her himself. In addition to acting and directing in La Fille de Quinze Ans, Doillon also wrote the screenplay and co-produced. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Co-adapted by director Claude Berri from a novel by Marcel Pagnol, this hugely successful French historical drama concerns a bizarre battle royale over a valuable natural spring in a remote French farming community. City dweller Jean Cadoret (Gérard Depardieu) assumes ownership of the spring when the original owner is accidentally killed by covetous farmer Cesar Soubeyran (Yves Montand). Soubeyran and his equally disreputable nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) pull every dirty trick in the book to force Cadoret off his land, but the novice farmer stands firm. Although the Soubeyrans appear to gain the upper hand, the audience is assured that they will eventually be foiled by the vengeful daughter of the spring's deceased owner -- thus setting the stage for the film's equally successful sequel, Manon of the Spring. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Gerard Barbier (Michel Coluche) has taken on a temporary job at a small elementary school and soon finds himself involved in sticky situations that challenge his inventiveness. In one such instance, a suicidal fellow-teacher has to be rushed to the hospital and the only available vehicle is an oversized tractor trailer, hardly the ticket for charging down the road. This is the first of four planned films for French comedic star Coluche, working under director Claude Berri. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Claude Berri abandons his usual straightforward brand of filmmaking for the French I Love All of You. Catherine Deneuve plays a 35-year-old career woman who doesn't think she has time for a lasting relationship. Thus, her love life has been, and probably always will be, a series of trysts and one-night stands. The Alain Resnais-like continuity hopscotches between past, present and future as Deneuve ruminates on her empty emotional life. Originally titled Je Vous Aime, the film is also known as I Love You All (which sounds like something Scarlett O'Hara might say). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this crime comedy, a jealous chauvinistic husband worries more about his wife's fidelity than her safety after she is taken hostage by a bank robber. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Egg is "the system," and Magis (Guy Bedos) wants to be a part of it, somehow. He works in a stuffy store and, out of boredom more than anything else, has an affair with an elderly maid. This tasteless act gets him fired. He makes the acquaintance of a middle-class family who help him get a government job and offer one of their daughters as his wife. Soon, he finds his new wife boring and takes comfort with the earthy old cleaning woman. Eventually, he kills his new wife and frames her lover for the deed. This somehow makes him feel that he is now an official member of "The Egg." ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this children's drama, a 10-year old boy becomes deeply troubled after his mother abandons him and he must go through a series of foster families. He finally finds one and finds himself befriended by a kindly grandmother with whom he really bonds. Unfortunately, she suddenly dies, and the boy is unable to cope. He begins causing trouble and winds up in a special school. Fortunately, he knows that he can return to the family when he is released. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi