Alexandre Mnouchkine Movies

Serious, logical Martha (Barbara Sukowa) and dreamy, superstitious Anna (Stefania Sandrelli) have been best friends. That is, until Martha's lover Victor (Sami Frey) decides he'd rather be Anna's lover. Mortified, Martha flees to Africa, leaving the field clear for her ex-friend. When Anna comes down with cancer, she pleads with Victor to get her to come back and somehow put this rupture in their friendship behind them. Curiously, Martha does come back, and after some understandable tension and a few bitter words, they manage to reestablish their friendship, though it is now on a different basis. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

With its release timed to coincide with celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution (1789-94), this film is actually two films released under one general title. The first, subtitled The Light Years, covers the period from the first stirrings of the revolution (e.g., the convocation of the Estates General (the pre-revolutionary parliament) by King Louis the Sixteenth, through to the moment when the King throws himself on the mercy of the National Assembly (the post-revolutionary legislature) in 1792. The second film, The Terrible Years, covers the time from the King's execution through the years of "the terror," during which anyone might be executed by the newly invented guillotine, concluding with the execution of the firebrand Robespierre and the end of the terror in 1794). Every scene in this huge international production (with an international cast) was filmed once each in English and French, although certain actor's roles were dubbed in later. Some of the better known performers appearing include Claudia Cardinale, Peter Ustinov, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Jane Seymour, and Jean-Francois Balmer. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Fifteen strangers who have volunteered for an experiment in isolation are forced to deal with an even larger problem in this film from Italian director Giuliano Montaldo. A research group in Germany wants to study the effects of isolation in a nuclear shelter on human subjects and assembles a diverse group of people for the test. The strangers agree to stay in the shelter for 20 days, but are allowed to exit at any time. During their time in the shelter, the group experiences a wide range of social dynamics, but near the end of their stay in the shelter, it is learned that a real nuclear incident is underway and the test group will be forced to stay in their shelter indefinitely. Featured in the cast are Burt Lancaster, Ben Gazzara, and Kate Nelligan. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Adapted from Umberto Eco's best-selling novel, director Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose is a 14th century murder-mystery thriller starring Sean Connery as a Sherlock Holmes-esque Franciscan monk called William of Baskerville. When a murder occurs at a secluded Benedictine Abbey, William is called in to investigate. As he and his apprentice, Adson von Melk (Christian Slater), delve deeper and deeper into the case, more dead bodies begin to turn up. Eventually, Bernardo Gui, an inquisitor played by F. Murray Abraham gets involved, but he may not have the best intentions. Sean Connery's performance earned him the award for Best Actor at the 1988 British Academy Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

In the French-made film (La Balance), a couple get caught between the French underworld and the cops who pledge to destroy it. The man is a one-time mobster, now pimp named Dede (Philippe Leotard) who's forced to squeal on some mob-land biggies in exchange for his acquittal from any connection to crimes committed and to get the cops off the back of his prostitute wife Nicole (Nathalie Baye). This one's full of chase scenes, profanity (it's dubbed in English), and violence. It was awarded many Caesar awards (the French equivalent of the Oscar). ~ All Movie Guide

The cartoonist Gerard Lauzier wrote this satire of psychologists, their practice, and the whole idea of group therapy, around Marc (Patrick Dewaere), a psychologist who may need more help than he gives. Right now, Marc is living in the countryside with Colette (Anny Duperey), but not without difficulties. He plans to conduct a group therapy session at his home one week-end, something that soon unravels because of the sudden arrival of Marc's former girlfriend and her lover. Several years ago, the lover was Marc's trusted friend, until he not only stole Marc's girlfriend, but also his car, and his money. The former girlfriend and former buddy, and their partner in crime are hiding out from the police, and intent on using Marc's property until they are safe. Group therapy, Marc, and Colette will never be the same by the time the week-end is concluded. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A man who received false notice that his son had been murdered sets out to uncover the truth about his missing boy in this thriller starring Lino Ventura and Angie Dickinson. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A discontented concert pianist causes all sorts of heartbreak with his egotistical and womanizing antics, and all the people in his life attempt to force him to grow up in this French comedy/drama (with English subtitles). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Romain (Lino Ventura) lost his wife in a forest fire, and his son, who blamed him for the death, left France for Canada. Romain is called to Canada to identify the corpse of a murder victim believed to his son. When the murdered man turns out to be someone else, his son automatically becomes the chief suspect in the murder. Romain decides to try and get the young man to turn himself in and searches through the byway underground and underworld life in Canadian cities with the help of Karen (Angie Dickenson), a lady with an unsavory past. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Dear Inspector and Dear Detective were the English-language titles of Philippe De Broca's Tendre Poulet. Annie Girardot plays the old flame of Greek professor Philippe Noiret. The prof tries to rekindle the flames of passion, but Girardot seems curiously preoccupied. It turns out that she's a detective on the trail of a murderer. The film served as the basis for the 1979 American made-for-TV movie Dear Detective, starring Brenda Vaccaro and Arlen Dean Snyder. A DeBroca-directed sequel, Jupiter's Thigh, was filmed in 1979, again with Annie Girardot and Philippe Noiret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This film by French director Alain Resnais (Last Year in Marienbad) is loosely based on a true story from the 1930s about financier, con-man and swindler Stavisky who was arrested in 1934 for selling phony stock but was never brought to trial. While in jail, he continued to engage in doubtful monetary transactions. As the rumors that he was being protected by high-ranking members of the government of the French Third Republic were undoubtedly true, the scandal had a profoundly unsettling effect on the French nation, already suffering from poor government handling of the Depression, and this incident nearly brought down both the government and the Republic. Stavisky's death in prison (an apparent suicide) triggered widespread unrest and rioting. In the movie, when Stavisky (Jean-Paul Belmondo) goes to jail as a young con-man, his embarrassed father commits suicide. Ruining countless lives in his stellar career as a big-money swindler, including that of his nobleman friend Raoul (Charles Boyer), Stavisky is shown to be a pawn in a still bigger swindle, one which will destroy the Left and open the way to fascism. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this parody of James Bond movies, a dullard of a spy novelist finds himself the subject of an English sociology student's term papers. She travels to his Paris apartment to do her research and their relationship is interspliced with episodes from the writer's newest book that features his popular hero Bob St. Clair, master spy and anithesis to the writer, and his lovely assistant Tatiana, (who is of course, the lookalike of the lovely student). The spy's nemesis is in reality, his pushy publisher. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide