Eric Elmosnino Movies

Directed by Bruno Podalydès (who helmed the "Montmartre" segment of the omnibus Paris, I Love You), Bancs Publics chronicles three intersecting stories in the city of Versailles: an office worker who hangs a banner reading "Lonely Man" beneath his window, the feuding families and couples in a busy town square, and the employees and customers of a local shop. This sprawling and droll exploration of the estrangement of modern life boasts a star-studded supporting cast that features a veritable who's who of French cinema, including Olivier Gourmet, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, Chiara Mastroianni, Hippolyte Girardot, Pierre Arditi, and the grande dame herself, Catherine Deneuve. ~ Sandra Bencic, Rovi

Actress-cum-director Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi's sophomore feature, the comedy-drama Les Actrices (Le reve de la nuit d'avant), follows the trials and travails of Marcelline (Tedeschi), a tense and jittery stage thesp whose personal and professional life threaten to fall into pieces simultaneously. On a personal level, Marcelline hits the midpoint of her life, hears her biological clock ticking, and longs desperately for a child. At work, Marcelline's inability to find the core of her character, Natalia Petrovna, in a production of Turgenev's A Month in the Country only causes her emotional tension to double. In time, she regresses into such a basket case that she can barely respond to the stage director's query about whether she is right or left-handed. Marcelline's natty and overanxious mother (Marisa Borini, Tedeschi's mother in real life) weighs heavily on her as well, pressuring her constantly about the need to find an appropriate suitor before time runs out; instead, Marcelline finds herself drawn helplessly to Eric (Louis Garrel) a sexy young actor in the production - who, without her knowledge, nurtures reciprocal affections. This parallels the events that befall Petrovna in Turgenev's play, and indeed, at one point the spirit of Petrovna (Valeria Golino) appears to Marcelline for much-needed counsel. Meanwhile, as Marcelline weathers her own personal crises, one of her friends, Nathalie (Noemie Lvovsky) - the assistant to the play's director - struggles with her offstage lack of fulfillment as a wife and mother. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A father who is determined to enjoy his vacation even if it kills him hits the high seas -- and the high seas hit back -- in this comedy from France. Jacques Monot (Denis Podalydes) is spending a few weeks of the summer at the seaside with his wife, Albertine (Guilaine Londez), and their four children. However, the resort community where they've landed is not proving to be very entertaining, and Jacques is looking for a way to make their stay more exciting. An encounter with a persuasive (if less than scrupulous) salesman leads to Jacques purchasing a rattletrap sailboat, and despite the fact that he's never handled a sailboat in his life, Jacques decides to take his new craft out for a spin on the ocean with chaotic results. Liberte-Oleron was directed by Bruno Podalydes, the brother of leading man Denis Podalydes; the siblings also collaborated on the film's screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Following the international success of her first film Oblie-moi (1994) for which she was also the co-writer, Noémi Lvovsky has concentrated mostly on screenwriting until Petites, a "buddy film" for girls. Emilie, Stella, Ines and Marion come from different social backgrounds but share the same problems. Their escape is the group. As they grow older and get attracted to the opposite sex, each one picks out an ideal but inaccessible fiancé, chosen from the older boys at school. Life has its twists and turns, but the girls know that they will never be separated. A tender approach to the feelings of young women as only a woman can truly know, Petites is about the bittersweet experiences of growing up in a world which is not always friendly. The film is also a good representative of the New French Cinema by one of its several women directors. Petites was screened in the Spotlight on the New French Cinema section of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, 1998. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi