Margaret Menegoz Movies

In a village in Protestant northern Germany, on the eve of World War I, the children of a church and school run by the village schoolteacher and their families experience a series of bizarre incidents that inexplicably assume the characteristics of a punishment ritual. Who could be responsible for such bizarre transgressions? Leonie Benesch, Josef Bierbichler, and Rainer Bock star in director Michael Haneke's Palm d'Or-winning period drama. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A successful lawyer, Eloise's life would be complete if only she could find a successful relationship. She signs up for a speed dating program, and what follows is a bizarre and often funny experiment in what happens when seven men and seven women take off on a race to find a significant other. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Paranoia grips a bourgeois European family when a series of menacing videotapes begin turning up on their doorstep in Piano Teacher director Michael Haneke's dark drama. From the outside, Georges (Daniel Auteuil), Anne (Juliette Binoche), and son Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky) are the typical middle-class European family, but when a series of mysterious videotapes accompanied by morbid drawings reveal that someone has been monitoring their house, Georges begins to suspect that his past has come back to haunt him. It was during France's occupation of Algeria that Georges wronged a young Algerian boy named Majid (Maurice Bénichou), and as the enraged father and husband begins tracking down his former friend, the line between victim and predator becomes increasingly blurred. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

On the heels of his award-winning, emotionally devastating 2001 drama The Piano Teacher, German filmmaker Michael Haneke weaves this disturbing tale of a family forced into a harrowing confrontation with a group of strangers set against the backdrop of a global apocalypse. In the aftermath of an unseen but catastrophic global disaster, a shaken family slowly makes their way to the presumed safety of a holiday home in the French countryside. Upon arrival, the family discovers their home inhabited by a woman and a horrified man. When a shot rings out, a life is taken, and time seems to stand still. In the aftermath of unspeakable violence, it appears that the only hope for a band of desperate refugees lies in a nearby train station and a locomotive that -- despite their most optimistic hopes and prayers -- may never actually arrive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A middle-aged man wanting to revisit the city of his birth discovers time and corruption have taken a terrible toll in this drama. Fernando (German Jaramillo) is a successful gay writer who was born in Medellín, Colombia, but has lived in Europe for the past 30 years. Feeling jaded and uninspired, Fernando decides to return to Colombia after the death of his sister, who was the last surviving member of his immediate family. Fernando remembers the Medellín of his youth as a beautiful place, but now the city is the capital of the international drug trade, and crime and urban sprawl have made it a harsh and dangerous place to live. At a party, Fernando meets Alexis (Anderson Ballesteros), a member of a teenage street gang. The two soon strike up a friendship, as Fernando tries to show Alexis what's left of the city he once knew, and Alexis teaches Fernando the grim realities of life and death on the streets. Fernando and Alexis become lovers, but despite their affection for each other, Fernando does not fully understand the dangerous and volatile nature of life in the new Medellín, which leads him into grave danger. La Virgen de los Sicarios was written for the screen by Fernando Vallejo, based on his novel. Director Barbet Schroeder shot the film on location in Medellín, using a digital video camera in order to speed up production in the notoriously dangerous city. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Legendary Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda adapts a nationally treasured epic poem to the silver screen. For 400 years, Lithuania and Poland were linked, until the country was partitioned in 1795 by aggressive nations at its borders -- Russia, Prussia, and the Austrian empire. At that point, the formerly huge nation simply ceased to exist. Yet one hope remained for the patriotic Poles yearning for autonomy -- France. Napoleon promised to restore the Polish homeland if they, in turn, helped him defeat Russia. Thousands of Poles were part of the French force that reached the gates of Moscow before being forced into a long and bloody retreat. The film itself centers on two families who live in the Russian-controlled part of Poland: the Horeszkos, who ardently favor independence, and the Soplicas, who support Russia. In 1792, the last household lord of the Horeszkos was killed by Jacek Soplica; as a result, the latter was rewarded with the former's castle by the Russian colonizers. Twenty years later, the region is rife with rumors of Napoleon's imminent invasion. A destitute Count (Marek Kondrat) and heir to the Horeszko family estate almost throws his lot in with the richer and more powerful Soplica clan before he stumbles upon Gervais (Daniel Olbrychski), who reminds him of the treacherous murder of his ancestor. Meanwhile, Tadeusz (Michal Zebrowski), the rakish nephew of Judge Soplica (Andrzej Seweryn), who symbolizes all that is good and right about Poland, is confronted with a choice upon returning from university. He can either give his heart to the beautiful, pure, 14-year-old Sosia (Alicja Bachleda-Curus), a distant cousin of the Horeszkos who is living with the Soplicas, or he can opt instead for the worldly, sophisticated, St. Petersburg-educated Telimena (Grazyna Szapolowska), who is related to both clans. This film, which in many ways sums up Wajda's long and illustrious career, was a massive success in its native Poland. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

The final installment in Eric Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons quartet of films examines matchmaking among the middle-aged and romance in the Rhone Valley. The target of the matchmakers is widowed vintner Magali (Béatrice Romand), alone at her vineyard after the departure of her grown children. Her best friend (Marie Rivière) plots to pair her with a friendly businessman (Alain Libolt), while her son's girlfriend (Alexia Portal) schemes to introduce her to a high-school philosophy teacher. Rohmer's film was shown at the 1998 Venice Film Festival, the 1998 Telluride Film Festival, the 1998 Toronto Film Festival, and the 1998 New York Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

A Tale of Winter is the second installment in Eric Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons. Félicie (Charlotte Véry) and Charles (Frédéric Van Den Driessche) had a brief affair during a seaside vacation. Then Charles went abroad on business, and Félicie gave him her address so they could stay in touch; however, she made an unexplainable mistake in the address and has lost all trace of her lover. Five years later, she is still single and raising a daughter by Charles. Though she is courted both by her no-nonsense boss, Maxence (Michel Voletti), and her highbrow friend Loic (Hervé Furic), she is still in love with Charles and hopes to meet him again. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

The life of Polish pediatrician Janusz Korczak (Wojtek Pszoniak) is the subject of Andrzej Wajda's docudrama. Also known as an author who wrote primarily for young readers, Korczak's name became legend as a result of the Jewish orphanage he established in Warsaw. When the invasion of the Nazis in 1939 forced him to move his students to the ghetto, he struggled on without provisions or adequate space, refusing to give in to Nazi pressures. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Claude Brasseur stars in this cinemadaptation of the Moliere play Georges Dandin, ou le mari confondu. Written in 1668, the play has been somewhat dwarfed by such like-vintage Moliere classics as The Imaginary Invalid. Still, it was popular enough in its time to inspire imitation, most notably Betterton's Don Juan and The Amorous Widow. The plot, involving a wealthy man's avoidance of marriage until he is trapped by a crafty widow, is but a peg upon which to hang any number of comic complications and character vignettes. Brasseur's leading lady is the toothsome Zabou. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This political drama is taken from the classic story from Feodor Dostoyevsky, but liberties have been taken and many secondary characters eliminated. The author's condemnation of a godless society and his disdain of those who follow blindly to popular political causes remains intact. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi