Alain Sarde Movies

A French music lover befriends a once-great American jazz artist and attempts to save him from self-destruction in this moody drama. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon portrays Dale Turner, a fictional musician inspired by a number of famed jazz figures, including Bud Powell and Lester Young. Largely forgotten in his home country, Turner has moved to Paris in search of a more appreciative audience. He finds it in the form of Francis Borler (Francois Cluzet), a bebop aficionado who befriends the expatriate player. Borler soon becomes familiar with Turner's darker side, including his struggles with alcoholism, drug addiction, and depression. Fearing for the musician's life, the fan becomes his caretaker, an arrangement that leads to a brief improvement in Turner's health and fortunes but places great emotional strain upon them both. Director Bertrand Tavernier pays great attention to the visual and aural details of the jazz world, with outstanding musical supervision provided by Herbie Hancock. 'Round Midnight's greatest asset, however, is Gordon's Academy Award-nominated performance, informed by his own life experiences. His naturally fascinating presence combines with the film's obvious love of the music and its milieu to provide what many have hailed as one of the more authentic and affectionate presentations of the jazz world on the silver screen. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

French stage actor Louis Ducreux makes his film debut as a 76-year-old traditionalist painter, Monsieur Ladmiral, in this bittersweet portrait of a brooding artist. A widower, Ladmiral lives on an estate in the countryside near Paris with only his housekeeper, Mercedes (Monique Chaumette), and his paintings to keep him company. The action of the film takes place on a bright autumn Sunday in the early 1900s when Ladmiral's son, Gonzague (Michel Aumont), and Gonzague's wife, Marie-Therèse (Geneviève Mnich), come out from Paris with their three children to visit the old man. While making small talk with Gonzague, Ladmiral hints ever so subtly that his son has become too bourgeois, too conformist, too accepting of the status quo. Apparently, Ladmiral doesn't want his son to face what he is facing: self-recrimination for failing to take risks, failing to go beyond the bounds of tradition. Outdoors, the couple's two boys are only too eager to risk and dare. At one moment, they try to set fire to an insect and, failing, have the audacity to ask for a magnifying glass to do the job. Their father, Gonzague, disapproves, of course, but Ladmiral pronounces his blessing on the project, and he authorizes them to use his glass. No doubt, the old man hopes they survive childhood with their gumption and gall intact -- like Irène. Irène is Ladmiral's other child -- a vivacious, free-spirited beauty who speaks her mind and follows her whims. She is everything that Gonzague is not. Later, she drives her Papa to a dancehall. There, he tells her about his ruminations -- that maybe he should have experimented with impressionism. After examining his current project, he considers whether to make a decision, one that may change nothing -- or perhaps everything. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Craving a change in lifestyle, jewel thief and eight times-divorced Edouard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) leaves Paris for the Patagonian jungle. One day, while out gathering grubs, he makes the acquaintance of an extraterrestrial little girl (Thylda Bares) who materializes out of nowhere and proceeds to speak to him in perfect French. In short order, ambitious astronomer Dr. Margaux (Arielle Dombasle) -- who has long looked for evidence of extraterrestrial life -- arrives on the scene as part of a top-secret mission, complete with her nasty secret service operative (Patrick Bouchitey). Margaux and Edouard gradually learn that the little girl, called Lulu, is from a small planet populated by child-sized beings who take special pills to ensure eternal life. Lulu, who came to Earth to experience human emotions, left her pills at home and is aging at a rate of ten years every hour. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Directed by Raphae Nadjari, Apartment 5C follows several individuals trying to survive within the inner cities of New York. Nicky (Tinkerbell) and Uri (Ori Pfeffer), two Israelis with expired U.S. visas, are making ends meet by robbing local stores at gunpoint. The couple becomes a little overexcited with their gun in their Brooklyn apartment one evening, and Nicky is accidentally shot in the leg. Uri leaves in a panic, never to return. Luckily for Nicky, the building's maintenance person (Richard Epson) takes pity on her, and agrees to care for her while her leg heals. This leads to a relationship between the two; one which Harold's (Epson) wheelchair bound brother-in-law (Jeff Ware) doesn't approve of. Max (Ware) is determined to put a stop to the budding romance, which Nicky and Harold predictably do not take lightly, leading to a violent conclusion for the trio. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Inspired by true events that occurred in France in the mid-'90s, this French-language feature explores the relationship between two best friends who come from opposite sides of the tracks. Delphine (Maud Forget) is 14 years old and shy, a delicate and studious high-school patron who comes from an upper-class background. After following around Olivia (Lou Doillon), the new student at her high school and a dreadlocked, outspoken outcast, the two develop a close bond. Olivia is from a broken home and has a free-spirited approach to life. One night, Olivia takes Delphine to a nightclub where they meet Laurent (Robinson Stevenin), a brooding teenager with whom Delphine falls instantly in love. Olivia similarly falls for Laurent's friend Alain (Maxime Mansion) and the four enter a free-wheeling world of parties, alcohol, and sexual experimentation. Delphine becomes immersed in the prospect of belonging to someone and begins to sacrifice some of her cherished beliefs to satisfy Laurent. Olivia, the more world-weary of the two, spots Delphine's blind dedication and tries to help her achieve happiness without succumbing to the indulgent depths to which the foursome is rapidly becoming accustomed. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide

In French filmmaker Bertrand Blier's seriocomic Beau Pere, Ariel Besse plays a 14-year-old girl who is perversely attracted to her 30-year-old stepfather (Patrick Dewaere). Daddy fends off these unnatural attentions, but eventually gives in and allows himself to be seduced. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

In this satirical comedy drama from France, white-collar workaholic Paul (Vincent Lindon) and his high-strung wife Helene (Catherine Frot) are driving to a party one evening when a young woman leaps into the path of their car, crying for help. Paul refuses to let her into the car, and soon several men catch up with the woman and begin beating her savagely. Paul insists on staying out of the matter, but Helene feels some sense of responsibility for what happened, and begins spending most of her time at the hospital where the woman remains unconscious. In time, it's determined that the woman's name is Noémie (Rachida Brakni), she's 22 years old, and works as a prostitute. By this time, Helene has become obsessed with protecting Noémie, and when a strange man (Wojtek Pszoniak) attempts to sign her out of the hospital, claiming he's her uncle, Helene sneaks Noémie out posing as a nurse and takes her to her mother-in-law's country house to recover. Eventually, Noémie is well enough to tell her harrowing story -- she was brought to France from Algeria by her father, along with her sister, and fell into life as a streetwalker shortly after learning that her family had sold her hand in marriage her to a man back in Algeria. Director Coline Serreau shot Chaos using digital video equipment -- and was impressed enough with the experience that she announced she had no interest in shooting on 35 mm film ever again. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this comedy drama, two lovers go on vacation to the fellow's summer home in southern France. Once there, the woman becomes quite jealous because she knows that many women have been at this house with him. She herself is not as experienced as he and secretly dreams of having many different lovers. Time passes and things become increasingly tense between them and they begin verbally attacking each other. Finally they make peace and love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This drama, spiced with sexual innuendo, is directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre, and features Jeanne Kern (Elizabeth Bourgine) as a pretty, somewhat repressed schoolteacher who suffers a smear campaign at work. Someone has been sending her director (Michael Aumont) letters accusing her of lewd and immoral conduct. Matters take a turn for the worse when a photograph of an orgy is sent to all the faculty with one face cut out; presumably, the face is hers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed and controversial French filmmaker Jean-Francois Richet directed and co-wrote this bleak look at a young woman whose first missteps in life take her farther than she ever expected along a dangerous path. Maria (Virginie Ledoyen) is a bright and attractive but not especially responsible young woman who is used to having things go her way in life. Out of school and with no clear career path, Maria ends up taking a job putting together cushions for chairs. But after a single day on the job she quits, claiming the work hurts her hands and she'd rather start her own restaurant. As Maria plots her next move, she impulsively swipes a piece of lingerie from a store, then tries to lie her way out of the situation when she's caught. But Maria finds that words can't get her out of this bind, and soon she's in jail and dealing with much deeper trouble than she ever imagined possible. De L'Amour also features French hip-hop artist Stomy Bugsy as a drug dealer who is friendly with Maria's boyfriend, played by Yazid Ait. Ait also contributed to the film's screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This French-Spanish drama depicts a flat marriage that picks up a few new wrinkles. Nicole (Miou-Miou) and Jean-Marie Kunstler (Charles Berling) have run their small-town dry-cleaning shop for 15 years. When they visit a local night club, they see the brother-sister act of Loic (Stanislas Merhar) and Marilyn (Mathilde Seigner), who perform under the name Queens of the Night, and the four soon become friends. Later, the Kuntslers visit Basel, Switzerland, where the siblings are appearing. They learn the team is splitting up and invite the bisexual Loic to help at their shop. He accepts, and his presence alters their outlook on life. Shown at the 1997 Venice and Toronto film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide