Jean Carmet Movies
Most popular in his native France, actor Jean Carmet is best known internationally for playing a French colonist in La Victoire en Chantant/Black and White in Color (1976). He specialized in comedy and offscreen was known as quite the card, often causing the crew to laugh so hard they couldn't work. But not all of the 200-plus films in which he appeared were comedies. One of Carmet's most famous dramatic roles was that of the a decrepit miner, Bonnemort, in Germinal (1993). The son of a vintner and saddlemaker, Carmet launched his performing career on stage in the 1940s, but did not become well known until he played Gaston Duvet in the popular radio drama La Famille Duraton. Carmet made his film debut in Marcel Carne's Enfants du Paradis (1944). In 1982, he won a Cesar for best supporting actor in Les Miserables. In 1992, he won an award for Merci la Vie. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1994
This French family film is filled with action, animals, adventure, and suspense. The story is told from a child's viewpoint. One day, while playing in his secret tree house in the forest, 11-year old Antoine spies upon bank robbers stashing 40-million francs worth of loot. One of the robbers is the father of his newest best friend Lisa, a 10-year old Canadian visitor. Not wanting to rat on her father, Antoine instead moves the money to a different spot. Neither he, nor Lisa have a lot of respect for their frequently absent fathers. They find adults to be inherently hypocritical. Both kids do share a love of animals though. Together, they decide to run away to Biarritz, a resort town, and start spending a little money. The thieves are livid when they discover their stash is missing, particularly Max, and they try, unsuccessfully to catch the kids. Antoine is assisted by his muscular governess Clemence as he and Lisa suffer through numerous narrow escapes while spending their ill-gotten gain. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aurelien Wiik, Josephine Serre, (more)
- 1993
- R
Claude Berri's angry, ambitious epic, based on the 19th-century novel by Emile Zola, re-creates, as does the novel, the gut-wrenching poverty and the intense day-by-day struggles of striking French coal-miners in 1884 at the Voreux mines of France. The film centers upon the bitter toils of Maheu (Gerard Depardieu) and his family -- consisting of his iron-willed wife (Miou-Miou) and their daughter Catherine (Judith Henry), who also works in the mines. When a new miner, Etienne Lantier (Renaud), comes to Voreux to seek work, he is befriended by Maheu, who takes him on his mining crew and allows him to stay at his home. Etienne is also an organizer for a new miner's union and, as conditions in the Voreux mines worsen, Etienne convinces Maheu to organize a miner's strike. Meanwhile, Etienne is attracted to Catherine, and Catherine to him, but she doesn't act upon her feelings, taking up, instead, with Chaval (Jean-Roger Milo), a local ne'er do well. As conditions in the mines become more desperate and unsafe, and the owners propose to cut wages, Maheu at last stages a massive strike of the miners. When that happens, the owners send in armed soldiers to defend the mines. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Miou-Miou, (more)
- 1992
In this comedy, veterinarian Henri Sauveur (Jean Rochefort) maintains his dignity and calm in the face of an incredible number of irritating or even genuinely upsetting encounters with inveterate pains-in-the-neck. He suffers from the rudeness (and worse) of Parisian drivers, his relatives, and friends and clients. All the same, he manages to convey an admirable appearance of insouciance and a devil-may-care attitude. That is, until he meets the redoubtable Louise Sherry (Miou-Miou). He is so smitten with her charms that his artfully maintained defenses crumble pitifully, and he is reduced to confiding his troubles to a bemused but sympathetic female chimpanzee. This fast-paced comedy features some of France's best-loved actors and comedians, including Claude Brasseur, Jean Yanne, and Jacques Villeret) in walk-on performances. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Rochefort, Miou-Miou, (more)
- 1991
In this frequently surrealistic romp, a satire on sex, politics, and the business of filmmaking, two young women get together after discovering sufficient provocations in their lives to deliberately set out to wreak havoc in the world around them. Joelle (Anouk Grinberg) has just been thrown out of a moving car by her abusive man-friend, when Camille (Charlotte Gainsbourg) encounters her. Joelle's bitter exclamation Merci la Vie, or "thank you, life" echoes something of Camille's feelings, and the two decide to go on a rampage, picking up and seducing numerous men and then doing things like destroying their cars. Eventually, they set their sights on a "higher" goal and decide to do in an entire town. Meanwhile, it becomes evident that a sinister medical researcher, Dr. Worms (Gérard Depardieu), has infected promiscuous Joelle with a sexually transmitted disease he invented for the sole purpose of becoming the man who finds its cure, which he hopes will make him beloved, famous and rich. At some point, an elaborate series of flashbacks enter the story, and in one sequence, Camille attempts to persuade her feuding parents to get back together long enough to conceive her. Reviewers noted that logic is not a strong point in this film, but they found its fast pace and bright performances vastly entertaining. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anouk Grinberg, (more)
This charming motion picture relives the beautiful childhood memories of noted film director and writer Marcel Pagnol. While attending school in Marseilles, Marcel Julien Ciamaca daydreams about the nearby hills where he and his family spend vacations at a cottage. It is not enough to sojourn there over Christmas, Easter, and summer holidays; Marcel wants to be there all the time, to roam the fields, climb the rock faces, and enjoy other simple pleasures with his mother, father, and siblings. And then something marvelous happens. His mother Augustine (Nathalie Roussel) persuades his father Joseph (Philippe Caubere), a schoolteacher, to allow the family to spend each weekend at the cottage. Because they have no car, they must ride public transport part of the way, then walk the remaining five miles. However, a former pupil of Joseph's shows them a shortcut that crosses private estates and reduces the distance to only one mile. So the family enjoys weekend after wonderful weekend in the hills. Marcel plays with a country boy, picks thyme for the family's alfresco dinners, and meets a girl whom he rescues from spiders. Though she is an imperious little lass, Marcel is quite taken with her and even performs feats of derring-do to impress her. These carefree weekend outings continue until one day a heartless watchman charges the Pagnols with trespassing on an estate on their way to the cottage. Woe is Joseph. He believes his very proper school will fire him. But when the school officials call him in, they promote him! They know nothing of his trespassing, for Joseph's former pupil has tricked the watchman into dropping the charge. Then more good news comes; Marcel has won an academic prize. The film has a bittersweet ending in which Marcel, as an adult, reviews what has happened to the family members since those wonderful days when life was good and all was right with the world. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julien Ciamaca, Philippe Caubère, (more)
- 1989
Eric Blanc plays a man who has witnessed a car-bombing and become a major media celebrity. He just can't say enough about what he saw, and his speculations about it are extremely discomfiting to the French secret service. They wish he would just shut up. Instead, he tackles the task of finding out what really happened with the help of his supposedly wheelchair-bound stepfather Victor Lanoux, an ace detective who was forcibly "retired" from the police department as a result of his refusal to stop investigating cases when told to. Together, they comically stick a monkey wrench into the official machinery of cover-up. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Lanoux, Eric Blanc, (more)
- 1989
This poetic French drama about the inner experience of a returning World War I soldier, is based on the much-loved and highly regarded novel La Vouivre by Marcel Ayme. Georges Wilson, a well-established presence on the French stage, makes his filmmaking debut as a screenwriter and director. A "vouivre" is a wood-nymph, beautiful but completely lacking in human sensibilities. At the start of the film, Arsene (Lambert Wilson), a discharged soldier, returns to his family's farm. His return provokes quite a reaction, as he had been presumed dead. He is tormented by memories of the war, and finds brief consolation in his experiences with the wood-nymph (Laurent Treil). However, despite her magical qualities, it becomes clear that even a peasant farmer has more richness and depth to his character than the soulless "vouivre" can ever attain. In the novel, it's not clear whether the wood-nymph is real or the product of hallucinations caused by a head injury Arsene sustained in the war. In this movie version, the reality of the "vouivre" is never questioned. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lambert Wilson, Jean Carmet, (more)
- 1988
French/Israeli filmmaker Moshe Mizrahi wrote and directed this adapation of the fanciful comic novel by Albert Cohen. Set in 1938, it tells the farcical story of a band of five French speaking Greek Jews who seek to have their status as self-appointed ambassadors of a Palestinian Zionist state recognized by the League of Nations in Geneva. The five are played by veteran French comic actors Pierre Richard, Bernard Blier, Jacques Villeret, Jacques Dufilho and Jean-Luc Bideau. The film follows their rambling odyssey from their native Greek island to Marseilles to Geneva, where they involve a Polish Jewish immigrant (played by actor/singer Charles Aznavour in their scheme. Among the five would-be ambassadors, Richard has the showiest part as the blustery title character. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Richard, Charles Aznavour, (more)
- 1988
An author (Pierre Etaix), an actress (Nicole Calfan) and a stage manager (Jean Carmet) star in this plotless story about the preparation of a new play. Scenes of the audience are inserted to move along this story within a story. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Carmet, Nicole Calfan, (more)
- 1988
The recolonization of Africa, this time by the very blacks who had to flee it as exiles during the time of the original French occupation, is the theme of this political comedy. Adiza, who has been living well in France, has decided that she will return and buy the plantation she and her compatriots were expelled from, and enlists some unlikely helpers to bring them back into the country and enact their plot. Meanwhile, these "local" blacks are unwittingly accepted by the other landowners as more cheap labor. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roland Giraud, Jean Carmet, (more)
Long ago, in what seems like another lifetime to him, Paul (Ben Gazzara) had an illegitimate son by a local North African woman. For many years now he has lived in French Algeria with his wife Betty (Julie Christie), an English-born chanteuse. Now on the eve of independence, the dangers of remaining in Algeria are growing, and the pair are preparing to leave. Before they do, Paul's illegitimate son Wanis (Patrick Bruel), by now a charming young man with a fascination for automobiles as well as women, attempts to spark a romance with Betty. One of the movie's highlights is a stock car race with the couple's vintage Buick. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Gazzara, Julie Christie, (more)
- 1987
Sorceress is not a remake of the 1982 erotic thriller of the same name. This 1987 film is set in medieval France, where, in certain quarters, witchcraft is accepted as a fact of life and an everyday occurrence. A travelling priest visits town after town, hoping to root out those still practicing pagan rituals in defiance of church edicts. Visually, the film is a stunner; in terms of content, there's more atmosphere than story, which is not an altogether bad thing. Try to see the subtitled version of Sorceress; the English-dubbed version is about as credible as a Godzilla movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tchéky Karyo, Christine Boisson, (more)
- 1987
- R
This mystery is taken from the novel by best-selling author Guy des Cars. While on a voyage with his philandering wife (Assumpta Serna), Jacques (Xavier Deluc), in spite of the fact that he is blind, deaf, and mute, is accused of murdering an oily lounge singer. Deliot (Jean Carmet) is the defense attorney who tries to find the killer and defend Jacques, who inexplicably admits to a murder he did not commit. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Xavier DeLuc, Assumpta Serna, (more)
- 1987
This unflinching, provocative drama is set in the slums of Gay Paree, where dwells the dregs and fringe of French society. There Miss Mona, an aging drag queen, dreams of becoming a real woman before he dies. Unfortunately, an old lover stole all the money he was saving so he could become a she instead. Miss Mona finally gets his chance to earn more cash when he meets a destitute young Arab, an illegal immigrant. The queen takes the Arab in and convinces the destitute and desperate youth that he will make enough money to buy immigration papers if he becomes a prostitute. The Arab reluctantly agrees to it, but does not realize that the money he grits his teeth to earn is actually going to pay for Mona's dream surgery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Carmet, Ben Smail, (more)
- 1987
Rene (Jean-Pierre Marielle) is a small-time crook who tries to shake down storekeeper Emile (Jean Carmet) in this uneven and humorless comedy. Things change when Rene starts to fall for the terminally boring and provincial Emile. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jean Carmet, (more)
