Jacques Perrin Movies
The son of a French theatrical director, Jacques Perrin studied acting at the Paris Conservatory. In films as a juvenile from 1957, Perrin blossomed into a talented and much sought-after European leading man. He won a brace of Venice Film Festival best actor awards in 1966 for his work in the Italian Half a Man and the Spanish The Search. Perrin starred in director Costa-Gavras' first film, The Sleeping Car Murders(1965); three years later, he functioned as producer for Costa-Gavras' landmark production Z. Continuing to wear two hats as actor and producer into the 1980s, Jacques Perrin produced the Academy Award-winning Black and White in Color (1975), then went on to play the older Salvatore in the 1988 "best foreign film" Oscar-winner Cinema Paradiso. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1967
This sweet coming-of-age film concerns a pair of Italian teenagers, Gabriele (Jacques Perrin) and Giovenella (Rosemarie Dexter), whose parents attempt to keep them apart. Gabriele's father (Folco Lulli) goes so far as to take his son to a prostitute, and when that fails, considers letting the youngster sleep with his own mistress. Gabriele finally rents an apartment, where he and Giovenella consummate their love. A surprisingly prim coda involves a warning by a policeman and the couple's vows to refrain from further physical intimacy until marriage. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosemarie Dexter, Jacques Perrin, (more)
The inaugural film effort of French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, Black and White in Color is set during World War I. Upon the outbreak of hostilities, a French trading post in West Central Africa finds itself at odds with a formerly peaceful German post, for no other reason than their parent countries are at war. The newly xenophobic French traders attack the Germans, only to fail in their efforts. Socialist Jacques Spiesser is put in charge of the debilitated French contingent, utterly discarding his former high ideals in the process. Filmed on location on the Ivory Coast, the satirical Black and White in Color (originally La Victoire en Chantant) won the American Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Carmet, Jacques Dufilho, (more)
- 1971
Walerian Borowczyk's Blanche is a tragic romantic tale set in 13th century France. While visiting the castle of an old landlord (Michel Simon), both the king (Georges Wilson) and his philandering page Bartolomeo (Jacques Perrin) try to seduce the landlord's young, naive wife Blanche (Ligia Branice, the director's wife). The landlord's son Nicolas (Lawrence Trimble), who's secretly in love with Blanche, seeks to defend her honor and stays on the watch by her bedroom door. When the king tries to sneak to Blanche's bedroom at night, covered by his page's cloak, Nicolas wounds him in the hand, being certain that he punishes the page. To save the king's reputation, Bartolomeo cuts his own hand and admits he was trying to get to Blanche's bedroom. The outraged old master wants to punish the page himself, but the king won't let him. The old landlord blindly seeks vengeance, and tragedy follows. Some critics consider Blanche the director's masterpiece and a metaphor of imprisonment, as Blanche is compared to a white dove kept in a cage. Others point out that the film's main virtues lie mostly in its beautiful photography and loving attention to period detail. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Simon, Ligia Branice, (more)
French legend has it that a creature known as the Beast of Gevaudan -- a huge, wolf-like monster -- was responsible for the violent deaths of over 100 persons in the mid-18th century, and this horror fantasy blends the lore of this fabled beast with a story of two men who set out to capture it. After a number of mutilated corpses begin appearing across the French countryside, naturalist Chevalier Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) is dispatched by the King to find and capture the animal responsible for the killings. Mani (Mark Dacascos), an Indian from Canada and an experienced hand in the wilds, is hired to assist de Fronsac in his work. Gregoire's assignment earns him the acquaintance of Marianne de Morangias (Emilie Dequenne), the lovely daughter of the idly wealthy Count de Morangias (Jean Yanne), but Gregoire receives a much chillier welcome from her brother Jean-Francois (Vincent Cassel), who, despite having lost an arm to a lion in Africa, is quite the huntsman himself. As Gregoire and Mani arrive in the village of Gevaudan, they're drawn to a local house of prostitution, where the animalistic allure and supernatural powers of Sylvia (Monica Bellucci) prove to have a profound effect on the naive Gregoire. Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the special-effects expertise for the creation of the Beast of Gevaudan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, (more)
- 1994
This poignant Italian drama tells the tale of a producer who would do just about anything to have actress Kim Novak appear in his next film. Enrico, a producer, needs $250,000 so he can hire Kim Novak for his film. The problem is that he is almost broke. He wants to sell his palatial family home but cannot unless his wife Emilia consents to it. Unfortunately, they are separated and she is involved with a new man. She has tried to convince her son Luca, that his father is a rat. Enrico's passion for Kim Novak is revealed through his memories of his youth which included a series of orgies with a sexy barmaid who was the spitting image of Novak. Eventually Luca, returns to his father determined to help him out and the two share many wonderful times. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Perrin, Joanna Pacula, (more)
- 1988
- PG
Cinema Paradiso offers a nostalgic look at films and the effect they have on a young boy who grows up in and around the title village movie theater in this Italian comedy drama that is based on the life and times of screenwriter/director Giuseppe Tornatore. The story begins in the present as a Sicilian mother pines for her estranged son, Salvatore, who left many years ago and has since become a prominent Roman film director who has taken the advice of his mentor too literally. He finally returns to his home village to attend the funeral of the town's former film projectionist, Alfredo, and, in so doing, embarks upon a journey into his boyhood just after WWII when he became the man's official son. In the dark confines of the Cinema Paradiso, the boy and the other townsfolk try to escape from the grim realities of post-war Italy. The town censor is also there to insure nothing untoward appears onscreen, invariably demanding that all kissing scenes be edited out. One day, Salvatore saves Alfredo's life after a fire, and then becomes the new projectionist. A few years later, Salvatore falls in love with a beautiful girl who breaks his heart after he is inducted into the military. Thirty years later, Salvatore has come to say goodbye to his life-long friend, who has left him a little gift in a film can. In 2002, over a decade after the film's original release, Tornatore brought the original 170-minute director's cut to American screens for the first time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Salvatore Cascio, (more)
- 1963
A touching story of brothers raised apart and then brought together under tragic circumstances, this drama by Valerio Zurlini remains true to Vasco Pratolini's novel. Told in a series of flashbacks as Enrico (Marcello Mastroianni) remembers the past, the brothers are separated after their mother dies. Enrico is raised by a humble guardian who works as a butler, his brother Lorenzo (Jacques Perrin) is taken in by a grandmother who gives him all he wants or needs. Enrico grows up to become a hard-working journalist, spending most of his time in Rome. Lorenzo is a young idealist living in Florence with no real need to work. The brothers rarely see each other, but when they finally meet after an extended absence, Lorenzo is gravely ill and dying. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Jacques Perrin, (more)
Originally titled Peau D'Ane, Jacques Demy's Dos Cruces en Danger Pass is better known by its English-language title Donkey Skin. Based on a fairy tale by Charles Perrault (of Cinderella fame), the bizarre story concerns the king (Jean Marais) of a strange, enchanted land. Catherine Deneuve plays the dual role of the king's wife and daughter. When the wife dies, she makes the king promise that he'll never marry anyone less beautiful than she; thus, he is compelled to wed his own daughter! The fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig) tries to save the girl from this incestuous fate by telling her to make impossible demands for her wedding gifts. One such demand is for the skin of a magic donkey which deposits valuable jewels in its compost heaps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, (more)
- 1962
In a complex sequence of romantic musical chairs, this routine, New Wave style drama looks at a series of couples that have come together for awhile in the villa of a wealthy tycoon who has a few emotional hang-ups. The business magnate has fallen for a sudsy, superficial actress, but she is not particularly interested in him. Instead, she has her eyes on a writer -- and although he has his own girlfriend at the moment, that does not seem to matter to anyone except the girlfriend. She is ticked off at the actress's attentions to her boyfriend and in pure spite strikes up a relationship with the male half of another couple. He is a womanizer and his girlfriend is rich and spoiled. And so it goes -- until tragedy comes into the picture and ends the ennui. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Françoise Brion, Catherine Deneuve, (more)
- 1990
- PG13
In this sentimental, tragicomic drama, Matteo Scuro (Marcello Mastroianni) is an old widower living in Sicily. His five grown children have scattered all over Italy, and he has heard nothing but glowing reports from them about their lives and careers. One day he takes it into his head to visit these paragons who have fulfilled every one of his ambitions for them. Eventually he discovers that all his children have been lying to him for a very long time because they were afraid to disappoint their papa; their lives are shabby and very much on the edge, and one of them has long-since committed suicide (unbeknownst to him). This daunting truth provokes a heart attack in the old man, who still has a few lies yet to tell and hear, because he insists (as do his children) that "everything is fine." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Michèle Morgan, (more)
- 1962
In this romantic drama, an engineering student is quite upset to learn that his girlfriend has been seeing an older man on the side. In shock, he begins aimlessly walking through the Parisian streets. Along the way he meets a young nightclub stripper who works in a dive. Though she is but a teenager, the engineer falls for her. Unfortunately, when his girlfriend hears about the affair, she tries to break it up. She fails and must then satisfy herself with the older man. The other two remain crazy about each other. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In this post-apocalpytic adventure story, narrated by Van Johnson), Teo (Fabrice Josso) lives underground in a cave with his father, who is a member of a ruling clan. Except for people within a family, all contacts between citizens are supposed to be electronic. However, Teo manages to contact and arrange to meet a girl named Beatrice (Ines Sastre). Not only that, but they use forgotten conduits to travel to the forbidden aboveground world. There, he and Beatrice meet and have some adventures with rat-like mutants living in the ruins of old cities while a man from the caves (Horst Buchholz) hunt for them. At first these adventures with the mutants are purely hostile, but eventually Teo becomes a leader among them, and takes them to a place where they may be safe from attacks by the underground people. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabrice Josso, Ines Sastre, (more)
The title character, played by Claudia Cardinale, is a young woman who heads out alone to the big city after being dumped by her lover. She is befriended and protected by her ex-suitor's younger brother Jacques Perrin, who eventually becomes her new romance, despite the difference in ages (Perrin is 16, while Cardinale is...somewhat older). When Cardinale begins a new relationship with a musician, she tries to let Perrin down easily, but the young man is too headstrong for that. When they finally do part, Perrin gives Cardinale a large sum of money as a farewell gift. Despite the fact that Claudia Cardinale subsists off the kindness of strangers in this film, Girl With a Suitcase (originally La Fille de La Valise in France and La Ragazza Con la Valigia in Italy) treats her character with warmth and sympathy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Cardinale, Jacques Perrin, (more)
- 1970
This is a biography of the painter Francisco Jose de Goya (1746-1828) who went from being a portrait artist for royalty and the notables of his day to painting searing images embodying his wholehearted disapproval of the atrocities of his time. In the middle of his life, the artist had a relationship with the Duchess of Alba, who served as the model for a series of paintings, collectively called "The Majas," including a painting known as "The Naked Maja," which scandalized the society of the time. The film uses Goya's paintings as tableau, which come alive and bring us into the scene. Francisco Rabal is Goya, Irina Demick the Duchess of Alba. Interestingly, despite the scandal caused by her ancestress, the current Duchess of Alba gave her approval of and was present at the premier of the film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1967
A young man who lives with his aunt falls for a free-spirited German model in this uninspired drama. Although he runs off with her for the summer, he returns to his aunt to live off her money after the model and an old flame rekindle their romance. The story unfolds in a series of flashbacks. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Perrin, Eva Renzi, (more)
- 1993
This powerful, pointed and multi-layered political satire from Senegal's great director Ousman Sembene will provide considerable food for thought; especially amongst those who consider foreign charity a beneficial humanitarian action. It also provides insight into Sembene's thoughts on cultural genocide, AIDS, and corruption. The story centers around the funeral services of the outspoken Pierre Henri Thioune or Guelwaar (meaning Noble One) as his friends and family call him. Guelwaar was a prominent Catholic, the holdover religion from the now ousted French colonialists, who believed that most of his country's problems stem not from racism, nor even from colonialism, but from losing their self-respect by willingly accepting the food and supplies donated to impoverished Senegal by richer countries for the past three decades. Guelwaar maintained that these hand-outs have enslaved his people by causing corruption amongst those who exploit the international good-will for their own gain. It is something that destroyed the country's economy and has kept corrupt officials involved promote continued tension between Muslims and Catholics to keep the people fighting. Guelwaar's inflammatory opinions may well have caused his mysterious death. Afterward many important people come to visit the deceased's surviving family which is comprised of Nogoy Marie, his wife, Sophie, his daughter who sells her body in Dakar, and Barthelemy, his eldest son who loves the French and lives in Paris. His second son, Aloys is crippled and lives with his mother. All gather to mourn Guelwaar's death. The trouble begins when his corpse suddenly disappears from the town funeral home. Barthalemy calls the police and Officer Gora, a Muslim is sent to investigate. Gora is no fan of Guelwaar and his suspicious activities, but he always respected him. He despises Barthelemy because he has abandoned his culture in favor of French to the point that he refuses to speak anything but French. Tensions in town mount as rumors fly about the reason for the corpse's disappearance. But then Gora discovers that Guelwaar's body was accidentally buried in a Muslim cemetery and had nothing to do with ideological differences. Still, this is not the end, for now the Catholics want his body back for a proper burial while the Muslims refuse to defile their sacred burial ground by digging up the corpse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Director Danis Tanovic picks up where the late-Krzysztof Kieslowski left off by taking on the second installment of Kieslowski's "Heaven," "Hell," and "Purgatory" trilogy (the first was adapted by Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer) with this tale of a family whose dark past returns with a vengeance. Loosely modeled by screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz on the second act of Dante's Inferno, Hell tells the story of sisters Sophie (Emmanuelle Béart), Céline (Karin Viard), and Anne (Marie Gillain), whose lives were turned upside down when their father was imprisoned and their mother was rendered a wheelchair-bound mute. As the estranged sisters are slowly brought back together by a mysterious and handsome stranger who is somehow involved with the tragic events of the past, the questions that had for years gone unanswered slowly begin to drift into focus. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Karin Viard, (more)
Himalaya, l'Enfance d'un Chef is a fiction film about the forgotten people of Tibet, focusing on their daily lives and traditional customs. In a remote village in the Dolpo in the northwestern Himalayas of Nepal, Tinle, a charismatic old chief, has just lost his eldest son. He refuses to allow his son's friend Karma, whom he holds responsible for his son's death, to lead a caravan of yaks. Karma defies the old man's anger and the shaman's advice and moves the caravan, with the help of other village youtha, before the date set by the ritual. On the day indicated by the gods, Tinle gets together the village elderly and sets out on the same journey with his second son and his grandson, who is destined to be the next chief. The ancestral struggle between the old man and the mountains begins all over again. Eric Valli traveled in the region for many years and studied the ways of the people before making this film, which is based on the epic lives of two of his Tibetan friends. The film was shot over a nine-month period with a small French crew working under extreme conditions at an altitude reaching 17,000 feet. Scenic shots are spectacular, particularly those depicting the crossing of the high pass. Himalaya, l'Enfance d'un Chef was shown out of competition at the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thilen Lhondup, Lhakpa Tsamchoe, (more)
- 1973
The residents of the old-age home, in this Belgian/French film, have had altogether enough. Enough of unreasonable rules, regulations and restrictions which wreak havoc on their dignity and self-respect. Taking matters into their own hands, they stage a revolt which comes to the attention of the police. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Patrick (Hippolyte Girardot) is a news photographer in Lebanon who is captured and held hostage by one of the factions fighting in the civil war there. This hostage drama film is unusual in that it attempts to show what motivates the captors, as well as showing the brave attempts of the captive to maintain his dignity in daunting circumstances. Despite the fact that the captors' motives are better portrayed than ordinarily, they are not whitewashed, and Patrick endures a great deal of mental and some physical torture. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hippolyte Girardot
- 1993
The seemingly endless chain of assassinations of judges who seek to end (or at least curtail) the pervasiveness of organized crime and deep corruption in Italian political life, is the topic of this political thriller. As the film opens, Carla (Carla Gravina) is the gynecologist wife of a judge (Jacques Perrin) who is determined to prosecute the country's gang lords with the help of an informant. His life is constantly under threat. Despite the pervasive presence of police bodyguards, the inevitable happens, and he and his informant are killed. Carla, infused with his mission and angry at his death, takes the notes he had hidden and contacts the widow of the informer. With that material, she produces a television documentary featuring the widows of assassinated judges. Of course, this puts her and many others in danger also. Despite this, it begins to appear that she has roused the women of the country to action. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carla Gravina, Jacques Perrin, (more)
- 1978
This grim, brutal drama chronicles the terrible fate of a childless couple whose only crime was caring. The trouble begins when their barn mysteriously catches fire. Upon their return to the house, they find an adolescent having an epileptic seizure. Without a thought, they take him in, get him to a doctor, and encourage him. They have no clue that it was he who set the fire. Time passes and soon he becomes theirs. Later he sleeps with the wife and gets her pregnant. Just before she has the baby, the teen slaughters her and her husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geraldine Chaplin, Jacques Perrin, (more)
- 1969
A man returns to France after living in America for 11 years to find the old hometown has changed. Bruno (Jean-Louis Trintignant looks up some old friends that he left behind. One man was killed in the war with Algeria, and others are resigned to live out their lives in a sullen acceptance of fate. Leone (Simone Signoret) runs the local bar where the old gang used to meet. Flashbacks are employed to give historical reference to the stories of the characters. Bruno's return is met with a strange mix of suspicion and envy by the locals who have remained in the small town. Director Marcel Bozzuffi plays Jackie, the former football hero who struggles to make it after his athletic career has ended. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Simone Signoret, (more)
