Yves Rousset-Rouard Movies

Weak in script and plot, this comedy about the differences (or not) between royalty and the commoners that toil for a living has little to recommend it. Princess Charlotte (Anemone) is scheduled to marry a boring duke, but before that event happens, Paul (Thierry Lhermitte) has taken a bet that he can seduce her. He does, profits from his act, and then falls in love with her. Meanwhile, the wedding with the duke is still planned, and it remains to be seen whether Paul will give in and give up. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Based on the real-life assassination of a judge in Marseilles in 1981, this fictionalized account of how he came to die lacks the substance and drama that must have characterized the actual story as it happened. Judge François Müller (Jacques Perrin) was transferred from Vosges in northwest France to preside at the court in Marseilles, and when he arrives, he soon finds out what everyone else already knows: a certain Antoine Rocca (Daniel Duval) is the head of a large drug cartel centered in the city. The judge joins forces with a local police inspector, and manages to arrest Rocca for a short time for carrying an unlicensed weapon. Intent on eliminating the drug lord, Judge Müller goes to Palermo to search out evidence. With more dramatic build-up and an in-depth probing of the judge's own fears and motivations, this re-creation of a recent tragedy would have had more of an impact on audiences, especially in France where the details of the story were already known. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Three workers in a social services office on Christmas Eve find themselves the center of a vortex of rag-tag humanity that all need their professional help, and more. Their visit from Santa Claus does not involve a trip down a chimney, but a walk-in by a somewhat derelict, irascible St. Nick hunting for the unfortunate Mrs. Nick, whose girth is wider than her husband's because she's carrying the future little Nick or Nicola -- she also has a sack, given that she is a bag lady, and she herself is in need of an orthodontist. This unusual couple is complemented by other characters in need of assistance, including a woefully abject transvestite and one character who no longer needs assistance because corpses are pretty much beyond help. Events conspire to bring everyone to the zoo, a fitting place for the cast of eccentrics, social workers not excluded. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The caustic cartoons of Gerard Lauzier on the condition of the French middle classes are brought to life in this story about a man who longs for the attractions of a bohemian existence. Christian Clavier is Jerome, a married man who romanticizes and envies his actor-friend's lifestyle. When Jerome loses his job he sees a chance to pose as a wayward author and chase after women. To that end, he forgets about his wife and children and launches into the pursuit of parties, fun, and an elusive young woman. Jerome's posturing gets him nowhere, as people take advantage of him right and left, and his situation gets worse as a woman he wants to ditch keeps popping up again like a bad penny. Whatever crude, brash, and brassy intensity Lauzier limns into his drawings is somewhat diluted in this look at his world by director Francois Leterrier. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Roads to the South is often omitted from the "official" lists of Joseph Losey's films, principally because it was made for French television rather than theatres. Conceived by screenwriter Jorge Semprun and star Yves Montand as a sequel to Alain Resnais' La Guerre est Finie, the film details the further misadventures and disillusionments of Larrea, an aging old-line leftist (Montand). We find the protagonist a member of the European Establishment, embittered because he has been shut out from the radical movement of the 1970s. Now a wealthy author, Larrea from time to time yearns for the excitement of his antifascist days, but the parade has passed him by. He ultimately reverts to his old ways, with startlingly violent results. Co-scripted by director Losey Roads to the South was originally titled Les Routes du Sud. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide