Francois Leterrier Movies

Much of the suspense is excised from this ordinary comic "whodunit" by revealing too much about the protagonists before their own characters betray themselves through their actions. Barbara (Jane Birkin) marries Julien (Sami Frey) a charming and sexy man. Barbara's old flame Paul (Gérard Jugnot) is highly suspicious of Julien. It seems Julien's previous two wives died under dubious circumstances and he collected a wad of insurance money as a result. Paul cannot ignore his misgivings, and so he follows Barbara and Julien to Morocco on their honeymoon, intent on preventing any harm to the woman he still loves. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Part of the Emmanuelle series, this erotic film follows the adventures of Emmanuelle (Sylvia Kristel) as she and her husband engage in a myriad of extra-marital affairs. Their arrangement seems to work out fine, until Emmanuelle's pursuit of a seemingly uninterested film director sparks her husband's jealousy. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

Complications abound in this French film, which tells the story of a filmmaker (Jean-Luc Bideau) who is attempting to put his real life into a movie; his interactions with the people in the movie he is filming create reverberations in his "real" life, although the past remains unchanged. Among the complications is his growing regard for the woman who plays his cinematic wife (Jane Birkin). She may wind up replacing his actual wife in real life. One of the highlights of this film is the insight it gives into the actual mechanics of filmmaking. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Talented actress and writer Simone Signoret carries this drama about an emotionally deteriorating woman, Roberta, who tries everything she can to win back the affection and interest of her husband, Milan (Reginald Kernan). Milan is a moody race-car driver who is now retired, living with Roberta, married for ten years, and intent on writing his memoirs. Too much togetherness has the couple sniping at each other, so when an attractive young woman joins them for awhile, Roberta eventually sees her as a chance to improve her marriage. Already declining in heavy bouts with the bottle, Roberta thinks that the young woman could awaken her husband's interest in intimacy -- and therefore in Roberta herself. As might be expected, this convoluted and risky plan backfires in the worst possible way. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In a genre crowded with quality films, director Robert Bresson's POW drama has become legendary, in part because it strips down the experience of a man desperate to escape to the essentials. That's in keeping with the approach Bresson took with all of his films. The filmmaker, who spent a year in a German prison camp during World War II, based this story on the experiences of Andre Devigny, a French Resistance fighter sent in 1943 to the infamous prison in Lyons, where 7,000 of the 10,000 prisoners housed there died either by natural means or by execution. Lt. Fontaine (Francois Leterrier) is certain that execution awaits him, and he almost immediately begins planning his escape, using homemade tools and an ingenuity for detecting the few weaknesses in the prison's structure and routine. For a time, he goes it alone, then takes on a partner, but only reluctantly. Fontaine does get some help from a couple of prisoners allowed to stroll in the exercise yard, but for the most part he is a figure in isolation. For Bresson, the process of escape is all, and in simplifying his narrative he ratchets up the tension, creating a film story of survival that many feel is without peer. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi