Alain Sarde Movies

Marcello Mastroianni stars in this French farce, an absurd "western" set in Paris, with Mastroianni as the incurably vain General George Armstrong Custer. Richard Nixon is the American president, but everyone is costumed appropriately for the previous century. Buffalo Bill (Michel Piccoli), the famous scout, is here portrayed as a limp-wristed bungler. Ugo Tognazzi plays one of Custer's Native American opponents; he runs a curio shop selling Native artifacts made in sweatshops by white women. The climactic battle is held in a large construction excavation where Les Halles market used to be. The language the two sides use to justify their conflict is lifted from that used in the then-current Vietnam War. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Violette (Isabelle Adjani) is fascinated with the shabby background and low-down ways of her boyfriend Francois (Jacques Dutronc), and despite her middle-class family's objections, she marries him. Unable to keep a job, and without any real skills, he has a hard time supporting them, especially after the birth of their baby. He turns to shoplifting, and she briefly leaves him when she discovers this. Sometime after they get back together, with money still in short supply, she takes a turn at shoplifting too, and gets a kick out of it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

An idyllic May-December romance becomes unraveled when the much-older man begins suspecting that his tender young lover may be his own daughter, the result of an illicit affair many years before. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Buffet Froid is an absurd black comedy that cunningly reverses the conventions of the crime thriller to comment on the alienating and dehumanizing effects of contemporary urban life. It starts with Alphonse Tram (Gérard Depardieu) discovering that his casual subway acquaintance (Michel Serrault) is lying down with Alphonse's penknife sticking out of his belly. When he tries to report the crime to his neighbor, a police inspector (Bernard Blier), the latter refuses to listen, saying that he is not at work now. Later, Alphonse's wife is killed, and her hapless murderer (Jean Carmet) almost immediately confesses to Alphonse, but neither the husband nor the police inspector seem to be shocked. The three embark on a series of adventures and bizarre encounters in modern Paris. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

Corinne (Miou-Miou) is a Parisian detective who is transferred to a small village in Northern France when an investigation uncovers evidence that is potentially damaging to some powerful local politicians. She is temporarily given a desk job before she is called on to solve the murder of a little girl. Her inquiry uncovers a child pornography ring that targets children from the working class. Comedian (Jean-Marc Thibault) gives a fine performance in a straight role as the local police inspector. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This is a quiet drama about the struggles of a former drug addict and dealer, Bruno Calgagni (Patrick Dewaere), as he is released from prison in the U.S. and arrives back home in France. His unhappy father blames this disgraceful prison stint for the death of Bruno's mother. No one wants to hire an ex-con, and a romantic liaison with another, very delicately balanced former addict only adds to the burden Bruno is carrying. Mauvais Fils skillfully limns Bruno's daily fight to keep his head above water. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Gerard Louvier (Gerard Lanvin), a young criminal trying to stay a few steps ahead of a police manhunt, winds up with Julie Boucher (Miou-Miou), a journalist searching out another story -- who thinks he is an up-and-coming judge with leads on her own case. The confusion is a catalyst for some misunderstandings and general uproar, before the different protagonists sort themselves out and their untenable situation is resolved. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This French production concerns a gangster (Yves Montand) who retires to the countryside after living a full life of traditional crime. After settling into his new residence with his wife (Catherine Deneuve), his home is invaded by an unruly punk (Gerard Depardieu) who has some new-fangled ideas about the way crime should work. The film appears in French with English subtitles. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

This thriller about a mysterious psychopath was based on a novel by Georges Simenon. Edouard Binet (Philippe Noiret), an aimless Frenchman who has spent several years travelling in Northern Africa, is sailing to Belgium when he meets an attractive woman named Sylvie Baron (Fanny Cottencon). Edouard introduces Sylvie to Nemrod (Gamil Ratib), a wealthy Egyptian who is traveling with a cache of valuable jewelry. Sylvie and Nemrod hit it off and soon become lovers, which stirs an insane jealousy inside Edouard. Days later, Edouard arrives in blood-stained clothes at a rooming house owned by Mme. Baron (Simone Signoret), Sylvie's mother. It seems that Nemrod was killed aboard a train after his ship arrived in France, though Edouard claims no knowledge of the events. Sylvie suspects that Edouard is responsible for Nemrod's death, but the enigmatic Edouard has gained a trusted ally in Mme. Baron. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Martin Terrier (Alain Delon) has a problem. He wants to quit his job, but unlike everyone else, he cannot do it because he is a hired hitman and his employers would hate to see him turned out to pasture -- he knows too much, and he is still useful. When he escapes to the countryside for awhile, he meets Claire (Catherine Deneuve), and love blossoms. Back in Paris to confront his employers once again, Terrier gets an ultimatum -- do one last job for them and he can go free. He has no choice but to accept, even knowing that the odds on a long retirement have just changed for the worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Passion, a major film in Jean-Luc Godard's ongoing investigation of the relations between painting and cinema, uses innovative forms to explore political and economic questions. Jerzy Radziwilowicz plays a director shooting a film whose scenes are all reproductions of paintings by Goya, Valasquez, and other European masters. Production comes to a halt when his producers refuse to increase his budget until he explains the film's story to them. Meanwhile, the director is ending an affair with Hanna (Hanna Schygulla), the wife of Michel (Michel Piccoli), who is the manager of the hotel where the film's cast and crew are staying. In a sub-plot, Isabelle Huppert plays a factory worker who attempts to unionize her fellow employees. The story of Passion is elliptical and incomplete. It is a means of presenting a collection of scenes and images on related themes. This kind of story will become the hallmark of Godard's later career. The links among the episodes become even looser in such films as Germany: Year Nine Zero and For Ever Mozart. Passion marks the reunion of Godard with director of photography Raoul Coutard, who shot many of Godard's films of the 1960s. The cinematography is key to understanding this difficult film in which how an image is shot is as important as what it depicts. Godard and Coutard favor shots that begin as open, disorganized framings and become painterly compositions as the people and things in them move. ~ Louis Schwartz, All Movie Guide

Isabelle Huppert plays an attractive Parisienne out looking for some fun during her vacation on the ski slopes of Courchevel in the Alps when she starts up a relationship with a great-looking sportswear salesman (Thierry Lhermitte), but at the same time, she is entranced by a little chubby disk jockey in a night club (Coluche). Come to find out, the salesman and the disk-jockey are best friends, complicating matters for everyone, especially when the disk-jockey begins to find his buddy's new flame irresistible. Although this is a sexual comedy meant as a vehicle for the talents of Coluche, it unfolds as a rather run-of-the-mill, sentimental, two-handkerchief story about the classic love triangle. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Considering the passionate times (1944 -- when the Allies are about to liberate France with the consequent round-up of German collaborators), the two leading characters in this love story (Nicole Garcia as Stella, and Thierry Lhermitte as Yvon) could be more passionate in their feelings for each other, and for their country. When Stella is taken away to an internment camp (she is Jewish), Yvon joins the Gestapo so he can get to the camp and free Stella before she is deported to a worse fate. He manages to break her out of the camp, but then both of them have to somehow survive in the face of the Allied invasion and the hunt for German collaborators. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide