Alain Sarde Movies

One of cinema's greatest provocateurs, Jean-Luc Godard, presents another barbed but thoughtful meditation on culture, politics and cinema in this experimental drama. Shot using high-definition video equipment and a consumer-grade cell phone, with the crisp images of the former playing off the grain and distortion of the latter, Film Socialisme is divided into three segments. The first takes place on a luxury liner cruising the Mediterranean, as tourists from different lands attempt to communicate in their different languages. In the second, a French family calls a private tribunal, as the children challenge their parents on the issues of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity while the media watches from outside. And, finally, Godard and his crew visit six different places -- Barcelona, Egypt, Naples, Odessa, Palestine, and "Hellas" (the latter could be Greece or France) -- as he confronts issues of truth versus myth and where the global community is headed. While Film Socialisme features dialogue in a number of different languages, the English-language subtitles which appear in the film deliberately confuse matters by being made up of statements which bear no relation to what is being said onscreen, and usually have a provocative political undercurrent. Film Socialisme received its world premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival; to the displeasure of some distributors, it was made available though Video on Demand the day after its debut screening. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Roman Polanski gives one of Charles Dickens' best-loved stories a new and dynamic interpretation in this period drama. Oliver Twist (Barney Clark) is a young orphan in Victorian England who has been sent to a dank workhouse run by the miserly Mr. Bumble (Jeremy Swift) when it is learned there is no one to care for him. When Oliver dares to ask for more gruel, he is sent away to live with an undertaker, who treats him poorly. Preferring life on the streets to the treatment he's been receiving, Oliver runs away to London, where he falls in with the Artful Dodger (Harry Eden), a youthful pickpocket. The Artful Dodger is one of a gang of young thieves overseen by Fagin (Ben Kingsley), a paternal but sinister criminal mastermind. While Oliver finds a home of sorts with Fagin and his young cohorts, he also falls into a dangerous life made all the more threatening by the presence of Fagin's menacing overlord, Bill Sykes (Jamie Foreman). Oliver Twist was Polanski's first feature film after enjoying a major career resurgence following the international success of his Oscar-winning World War II drama The Pianist. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Written and directed by Academy Award-nominee Mike Leigh and set in England during the 1950s, this movie revolves around Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton), whose unrelenting dedication to her family is well known throughout her blue-collar town. However, there are more people than her rapidly aging mother and ill neighbor who depend on Vera's care. Though abortion was illegal and, of course, widely frowned upon in the '50s, Vera sees women going through unwanted pregnancies the same as she would anyone else -- human beings deserving of treatment. With this in mind, she regularly induces miscarriages for those who need them, and her patients are consistently grateful for her gentleness and understanding. Unfortunately for Vera, the law doesn't see her as aiding those in need; they interpret the abortions as murder, as do most of the other people in her life. When Vera's activities are revealed, her family life and relationships with those around her -- including the ones she helped nurse back to health -- are put in jeopardy. Vera Drake also features performances from Jim Broadbent, Heather Craney, and Philip Davis. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Directed by Patrice Leconte, Confidences Trop Intimes revolves around Anna (Sandrine Bonnaire), who, after suffering from an abusive relationship, approaches a psychiatrist for advice. Determined not to leave anything out, Anna immediately begins an intimate retelling of her life story; unfortunately, she has entered the wrong office. Both intrigued by her story and reluctant to embarrass her, William (Fabrice Luchini), the shy tax lawyer on the receiving end of Anna's diatribe, tries to continue the charade. The film also features Michel Duchaussoy. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

The tragedy of the war in Bosnia makes way for the humor and compassion of people living their lives under difficult circumstances in this comedy drama from filmmaker Emir Kusturica. In 1992, war is brewing in Bosnia, but the city fathers in the town of Golobuci are going ahead with their plans of building a railroad line they hope will bring more visitors into the city. Luka (Slavko Stimac), who is in charge of the construction project, lives with his wife, Jadranka (Vesna Trivalic), a former musician who is suffering from manic depression, and his son, Milos (Vuk Kostic), a talented soccer player who dreams of turning pro some day. After Jadranka has an especially severe episode, Luka takes her to the hospital, where he meets Sabaha (Natasa Solak), a Moslem nurse who quickly develops a nonprofessional interest in Luka. As the clouds of war appear on the horizon, Milos is drafted into the army and Jadranka runs away, and after Sabaha is left with no place to go, she's sent to Luka's place by his friend Aleksic (Stribor Kusturica), where she quickly takes over as both housekeeper and bedmate to Luka. Zivot Je Cudo (aka Life Is a Miracle) was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A middle-aged woman fears that her husband is cheating on her -- and chooses a very unlikely method for verifying her paranoia -- in this psychological drama from the writer of Une Liaison Pornographique. Catherine (Fanny Ardant) is a successful Parisian gynecologist whose long-term marriage to Bernard (Gérard Depardieu) has been passionless as of late. When she checks his cell phone messages one afternoon, she discovers a suggestive "thank you" from a young colleague of his, which creates an even wider chasm between the two. Desperate, Catherine goes to an upscale strip club nearby to solicit the services of Nathalie (Emmanuelle Béart), a matter-of-fact prostitute. It seems Catherine wants Nathalie to seduce Bernard and report back to her each week, an assignment that's initially off-putting to the young woman, but one she begins to relish as the weeks pass. Soon, Nathalie is using intimate details to fuel Catherine's rage toward her husband. Nathalie... had its gala North American premiere at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Coline Serreau's 18 Ans Apres (18 Years Later) is a sequel to her 1985 film Three Men and a Cradle, which was re-made in America as Three Men and a Baby. Marie (Madeleine Besson) is now on the verge of turning 18. She decides to spend a summer vacation with her mother Sylvia. Joining them are Sylvia's husband (Ken Samuels) and his two young adult boys (Gregoire Lavollay-Porter and James Thierree). Eventually her three "dads" (André Dussollier, Michel Boujenah, and Roland Giraud) and a housekeeper show up. The differences between Americans and the French, the foibles of single parenthood, and the pitfalls of middle-aged love and sex provide the material for the film's comedy. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Filmmaker Roman Polanski, who as a boy growing up in Poland watched while the Nazis devastated his country during World War II, directed this downbeat drama based on the true story of a privileged musician who spent five years struggling against the Nazi occupation of Warsaw. Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) is a gifted classical pianist born to a wealthy Jewish family in Poland. The Szpilmans have a large and comfortable flat in Warsaw which Wladyslaw shares with his mother and father (Maureen Lipman and Frank Finlay), his sisters Halina and Regina (Jessica Kate Meyer and Julia Rayner), and his brother, Henryk (Ed Stoppard). While Wladyslaw and his family are aware of the looming presence of German forces and Hitler's designs on Poland, they're convinced that the Nazis are a menace which will pass, and that England and France will step forward to aid Poland in the event of a real crisis. Wladyslaw's naïveté is shattered when a German bomb rips through a radio studio while he performs a recital for broadcast. During the early stages of the Nazi occupation, as a respected artist, he still imagines himself above the danger, using his pull to obtain employment papers for his father and landing a supposedly safe job playing piano in a restaurant. But as the German grip tightens upon Poland, Wladyslaw and his family are selected for deportation to a Nazi concentration camp. Refusing to face a certain death, Wladyslaw goes into hiding in a comfortable apartment provided by a friend. However, when his benefactor goes missing, Wladyslaw is left to fend for himself and he spends the next several years dashing from one abandoned home to another, desperate to avoid capture by German occupation troops. The Pianist was based on the memoir of the same name by the real-life Wladyslaw Szpilman; the book was first published in 1946 as Death of a City, but was banned by Polish Communist officials and went out of print until 1998, when a new edition was issued as The Pianist. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Two of the biggest stars of the French cinema bring their contrasting styles together in this lively romantic comedy. Rose (Juliette Binoche) is an emotional makeup artist who is hoping to get out of a bad relationship with her boyfriend, Sergio (Sergi Lopez), by leaving him in Paris and heading off to Mexico for a holiday. After losing her cell phone, Rose borrows one from Felix (Jean Reno), a somewhat stiff salesman with an interest in gourmet cooking, who is en route toMunich to attend a funeral. When both Rose and Felix find themselves grounded due to changes in flight scheduling and a transportation strike strands them at the airport, they end up sharing a room at a nearby hotel, where their contrasting personalities make the evening rough sledding for them both. As their unexpected stay wears on, will these opposites begin to attract? ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

As one brother (Vincent London) is proving himself as a soldier, the other (Guillaume Canet) is noting the last requests of his dying mother, a respected herbalist within the community. Though Arnaud (Canet) promises to carry on the family tradition, his plans are thwarted by a vicious band of horsemen who beat him into a three-day coma. When he wakes unable to speak or recognize his family, his wife (Melanie Doutey) sends a mercenary to find Thomas (London). Guillemette (Douty) and Thomas set off in hopes of finding a book containing the plant know-how they need in order to honor the late herbalist's wishes, but the tradition is primarily oral, and the books available on the subject are closely guarded by the clergy. Though Guillemette herself cannot read, she realizes her family's future depends on the existence of such a book. Making things even more complicated is the romance blossoming between Guillemette and Thomas, despite the shared relationship with Arnaud. This costume drama is set in southern France during the middle of the 13th century, and was directed by Pierre Jolivet. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

After a rather decided departure with his 1999 homage to Gilbert and Sullivan, Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh returns to his usual form for All or Nothing, a melancholy look at the day-to-day lives of a dysfunctional lower-middle class British family called the Bassetts. Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville (familiar to fans of Leigh's previous films) star as Phil and Penny, a common-law husband and wife who toil their gloomy days away as a cab-driver and grocery-store cashier, respectively. When the couple come to realize the growing emptiness in their relationship, an unexpected emergency within their family brings them closer together and offers the possibility of reigniting the long-extinguished spark in their marriage. Hoping to repeat the Palm D'or win of Leigh's 1996 film Secrets and Lies, All or Nothing was screened in competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi