Michel Rivard Movies
- 2000
A resident of Montreal, the serially shy Malcolm (Andrew Tarbet) has never had a girlfriend. However, his ability to listen attentively has earned him the friendship of a number of women, including an elderly lady for whom he plays the piano and an abused neighbor he gives shelter. Malcolm's placid, solitary existence comes to an abrupt halt, however, when he meets Alicia (Laia Marull), a hot-blooded Chilean coping with imminent deportation. Against all of his natural inclinations, Malcolm is forced out of his shell by Alicia, even rising to the opportunity of a lusty round of salsa dancing. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laia Marull, Dino Tavarone, (more)
- 1999
Histoires D'Hiver/Winter Stories is a nostalgic story set in Montreal in 1966, where 12-year-old Martin (Joel Drapeau-Dalpe) eats, sleeps and dreams hockey. Martin's favorite team is the Montreal Canadiens, an enthusiasm shared by his Uncle Maurice (Denis Bouchard), who loves to spin tales of the team's glorious past, but Martin's father seemingly couldn't care less about the icers. Meanwhile, Martin concocts a scheme to score tickets for a Montreal game by writing star player Henri Richard and claiming to be seriously ill, which does not go as he had hoped. When not thinking about hockey, Martin finds romance first entering his life thanks to his schoolmate Vera (Maude Gionet), and his bohemian English teacher introduces the class to protest music (in this case, Barry McGuire's Eve Of Destruction). Filmed on location in Montreal, Histoires D'Hiver/Winter Stories recieved enthusiastic notices for its strong performances and fine camerawork. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel Drapeau-Dalpe, Denis Bouchard, (more)
- 1994
A woman looks for her lost son in this Canadian-French melodrama set in Quebec city. Marie-Alexandrine (nicknamed Max) has not been in this city for over 25 years. Max burst into the home of her former best friend and classmate at the Conservatoire de Musique, Catherine Mercier, a renowned concert pianist. The two are opposites. Max was the rebellious one, and Catherine the quiet one. They begin reminiscing and the film flashes back to their youth when both were 15 and had budding musical careers. Max's career is nipped when she tells her strong-willed mother that she is pregnant. Her mother forces Max to give her son up for adoption. Enraged, Max throws her life to the winds and runs away. Back in the present, she has returned to find her son. Catherine assists her. Denis, a garage mechanic who is searching for his mother who abandoned him when he was a baby assists them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geneviève Bujold, Marthe Keller, (more)
- 1987
Thirteen-year-old Marie (Genevieve Lenoir) leaves home after being abused by her brother. She runs off to the city where she is befriended by Sarah (Frederique Collin), a prostitute and small-time cocaine dealer whom Marie believes is a waitress until her pimp comes by to beat her. Marie and Sarah develop a relationship that threatens to become more in this potentially disturbing and realistic drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frederique Collin
- 1985
Jacques and November is an unjustifiably obscure character study filmed in Canada. Director Jean Beaudry more or less plays himself, while Francois Bouvier plays his cancer-stricken friend. With time running out, Bouvier begs Beaudry to make a filmed record of his last days on earth. What could have been a turgid weeper is buoyed with touches of humor and excellent acting. The original credits of Jacques and November list Beaudry's associates Carole Brechetter and Monique Cantin as codirectors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Beaudry, Monique Cantin, (more)
- 1985
This fictionalized, routine account of the closing of a mining town leaves more questions than it is supposed to answer -- mainly because most viewers will not know the issues involved. Back before he became Canada's Prime Minister, Brian Mulrooney was in charge of an iron-ore company and voluntarily shut down the company town of Schefferville. He sent a population of 5,000 to go live elsewhere and returned the land to the Native Americans who were also living there at the time. The story of the town closing is sketched from the viewpoints of the local kids, serves as a backdrop for one divorce, and is played down by a geologist who is there to study the traces of the last glacial activity.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Gravel, Louise Laprade, (more)
- 1983
Strict behavior codes and the struggle to eke out a living provide a backdrop to this romantic drama set at the turn of the 20th century in rural, northern Quebec. Maria Chapdelaine (Carole Laure) returns to the home of her parents in a remote village, and during the period of one year, has her heart-strings pulled in three different directions at once -- though only one of those directions is what she really wants. She had been promised in marriage to the shy neighboring farmer (Pierre Curzi), whom she has known since they were children, but a suave man-about-town wants to marry her (Donald Lautrec), and a handsome trapper (Nick Mancuso) has fallen in love with her. Maria fluctuates between the trapper and the urban aristocrat, and as events unfold, her indecision leads to tragic consequences. Also filmed by Julien Duvivier in 1934, this story first became popular when published as a novel (by Louis Hemon) in 1913. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Laure, Nick Mancuso, (more)
- 1980
Rien ne va plus, by director Jean-Michel Ribes, is a series of comedy sketches of disparate quality, on the social, cultural, and political foibles that make the French, French. Various settings and character types are given a once-over, including pseudo-intellectuals, punk bikers, right-wingers, and patrons of a low-end cafe. Some of the skits seem to revolve around a good idea, but when the script and dialogue have to deliver, the idea tends to deflate before being realized. Comics Jacques Villeret and Roland Blanche are among the actors featured here. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Villeret, Eva Darlan, (more)
