Emmanuelle Beart

Average customer rating:

It doesn't get any better than this!

Jean De Florette / Manon of the Spring
Starring: Yves Montand , Daniel Auteuil , Emmanuelle Béart , Hippolyte Girardot , and Margarita Lozano
Director: Claude Berri
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Becket
My Mother's Castle
My Father's Glory
Army of Shadows - Criterion Collection
William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B0009P7EI2
Release Date: 2007-07-24

Product Description

Talented small-town girl Lily Mars hounds producer John Thornway for a part in his new play, but he doesn't want anything to do with stage-struck amateurs. But when Lily follows him to New York, he gets to know her better and his opinion of her changes for the better. Then, when the leading lady of the play walks out, Lily gets her big break on Broadway. Summary written by Leon Wolters

Customer Reviews:

It doesn't get any better than this!.......2005-11-12

I would almost say that the music in this picture is superfluous...but, then again, we are talking about Judy Garland. Judy never looked more beautiful than she does in this movie. She plays an aspiring actress and she is bursting with charisma. Her chemistry with Van Heflin, especially in the scene at the party, is nearly overwhelming. For a girl of just 19 (in the picture) she easily manages to wrap Van around her little finger, and any viewer will certainly go right along with him; man or woman. We get to see Lily, and Judy along with her, mature and blossom throughout the picture. I daren't say this is my favorite of Judy's pictures, or even her MGM pictures; how can a girl choose just one? That said, Presenting Lily Mars is in the top five. And her hair! Don't get me started...

Average customer rating:

Auteuil and Béart are great
a perfect movie with perfect cast
Nice music, boring film
wonderful story, merging of music and emotion
Romance French Style

Un Coeur en Hiver ( A Heart in Winter )
Starring: Daniel Auteuil , Emmanuelle Béart , André Dussollier , Élisabeth Bourgine , and Brigitte Catillon
Director: Claude Sautet
Manufacturer: Koch Lorber Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Cache (Hidden) [Region 99]

ASIN: B000HIVIQU
Release Date: 2006-11-07

Amazon.com

Daniel Auteuil (Manon of the Spring) plays Stephane, the curiously diffident coowner of an exclusive violin brokerage and repair shop. A brilliant technician, Stephane can make any instrument live up to its promise, yet he is emotionally remote himself, disconnected from passionate experience. His partner, Maxime (André Dussollier), lacks Stephane's gifts but is rich in personality and desire. When Maxime's new lover, a violinist named Camille (Emmanuelle Béart), is drawn to Stephane's still waters, the latter is briefly moved, thus destroying the fragile, symbiotic relationship between all three individuals. Veteran French filmmaker Claude Sautet (of the Oscar-winning César et Rosalie) has made a powerful film here expressed in the smallest of gestures, just as one might tune the strings of a violin ever-so-slightly to achieve perfection. Sautet indeed employs such a sonorous motif in this story, in which violins always seem to be playing and suggesting that the principal characters look at life as they do music: something to be tinkered with and manipulated for effect. --Tom Keogh

Description

Daniel Auteuil (Manon of the Spring) stars as Stephane, the curiously diffident co-owner of an exclusive violin brokerage and repair shop. A brilliant technician, Stephane can make any instrument live up to its promise, yet he himself is emotionally remote and disconnected from passionate experience. His partner, Maxime (André Dussollier), lacks Stephane's gifts but is rich in personality and desire. When Maxime's new lover, a violinist named Camille (Emmanuelle Béart), is drawn to Stephane's still waters, he is briefly moved, thus destroying the fragile, symbiotic relationship between all three individuals."Two Thumbs Up!" - Siskel & Ebert "[it] has the intensity and delicacy of a great short story." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times"superb…haunting...full of unexpected beauty, richness and feeling" - Hal Hinson, Washington PostWINNER - César Award, Best Director
WINNER - César Award, Best Supporting Actor
WINNER - Venice Film Festival, FIPRESCI Prize
WINNER - Venice Film Festival, Silver Lion
WINNER - London Critics Circle Film Awards, Foreign Language Film of the Year
WINNER - European Film Awards, Best Actor
WINNER - David di Donatello Award, Best Foreign Actor, Best Foreign Actress
WINNER - David di Donatello Award, Best Foreign Film
WINNER - French Syndicate of Cinema Critics, Best Film

Customer Reviews:

Auteuil and Béart are great.......2007-06-14

Occasionally slow but overall a good film. Auteuil and Béart are great and they have a fine supporting cast, particulary André Dussolier.

a perfect movie with perfect cast.......2007-06-03

again, when a french movie is good, it's not just good, it's superb!
amazingly wonderful screenplay carried out by wonderful first rate cast, what could you ask more? i was always curious how those actors and actresses could play some roles with specific talents such as pianist or violinist? we saw the elegant leading actress played violin like real and she just gave you an impression that she was a really really good violinist. like what i've seen in 'the page turner', another female role playing the piano like no one could be better than her. what a wonder!
wholeheartedly recommended.

Nice music, boring film.......2007-05-12

The characters are entirely static and finally tedious. You want to send them home to get a screenplay and a plot.

wonderful story, merging of music and emotion .......2007-05-07

This is a beautiful and moving film about life and its limits. In the background, there is this extraordinary music and talent, in the phenomenally beautiful Béart. But the one who controls the action is a passive man, the violin artisan, whose skill is matched by a kind of personal sterility that is attractive. It makes for an unusual balance. This is the kind of film that could never come out of the Hollywood mill, that explores mature pain and hope.

Warmly recommended. The whole thing is like a poem with sound.

Romance French Style.......2007-05-07

Un Coeur En Hiver (A Heart in Winter), dir. Claude Sautet, 1993
With: Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Beart, Andre Dussollier

"Coeur" is a romantic story, without a trace of sentimentality. That may be because of the restrain shown by the director, famous "New Wave" auteur Claude Sautet, but not exactly one of the likes of Jean-Paul Godard, Francois Truffaut, or Eric Rohmer. This is a story told linearly, with a clear, concise narrative, with no fat in it, a lean, straightforward romantic story; and yet is different from most Hollywood products, with the obligatory happy ending. Instead, "Coeur" delves into the exploration of the male psyche (the female here is familiar ground) and purports to account for an alleged failure to love, or relate in the human adventure for love (of the opposite sex) that most male humans embark on. The failure turns up an unexpected positive note, but not after much pain has been inflicted both on male and female protagonists.

Let us explain: Stephan is a young genius with musical instruments--violins in this case--which he is able to repair to their pristine sound quality, even improve them in the processes. He works for a slightly older partner--Maxim (Dussollier)--who is good at public relations, making sure his clients are well satisfied with both the service and social amenities he is careful to provide. He and Stephan are friends, though the word is not spoken, and good partners. They work in tandem, and in harmony, until a beautiful young violinist, Camille (Beart), appears in the horizon. Maxim confesses to Stephan that he has been seeing her for months, and, though he is serious bout her, their relationship is lukewarm and passionless. Stephan is called upon to help repair her violin, and Camille develops a sudden and intense passion him. Stephan shows retraint, despite feelings for her that he seems to try to supress. They have a few electric moments together, running for shelter in a rainstorm, but Camille is frustrated by his refusal to admit any feelings for her; or for Maxim, or anybody else for that matter. He admits his locked up and empty inside, and prefers to stay that way, uninvolved and independent. She has a breakdown, drinks, makes a scene at a café, and Stephan becomes the object of derision by his friend Maxim, who slaps him in anger.

The collapse of this relationship brings about a resolution, and a gradual restoration of Stephan's character. He helps a dying friend in a compassionate scene of euthanasia, something his wife cannot do. Stephan is far from a man without feelings. When he and Maxim meet again, Stephan has moved to a place of his own, where he has established a new workshop, and started a new life. He meets with Camille too, before she goes on a tour--she is now famous. The final meeting is at a café (again) with all three, and it seems Maxim and Camille are now together permanently. Maxim retreats discreetly and leaves the two together for a few moments. Camille shows she has had a revelation. "You loved him, she says, and his replied is, "He was not the only one I loved." Camille and Maxim drive away, and her from her last look at him we know she still loves him (Stephan), and that he still loves her too. It is clear, his love for Maxim was at least as strong, and barrier to any involvement with Camille.

This is a strange phenomenon to the amoral world of today, when betrayal for the same of sex knows no barriers. It's easy to jump into bed with a female who is beautiful and who wants you, and it's even harder where passion is pressing. Camille suffered a rejection of her femaleness, her pride, her beauty, and her talent. She loved Stephan for his unpretentious genius--his subtlety with fixing a musical instrument, his fine sensibility, even his restraint. But she resented his not letting go when the passion was exploding in him too. She could not see his inner struggle, and could not forgive him. Love here is more like a Racinian madness, which needs to be satisfied regardless of ethics or other social restraints. Friendship cannot resist passion--a very French theme, known down the centuries from Racine to Flaubert--but passion is destructive, regardless of specific situations. Stephan reserve seems almost irrational, and yet his struggle--misunderstood for cowardice and lack of commitment--surfaces only momentarily, and at the end eases into a quiet affliction.

There are fine-tuned points here, and this move shows that it is possible to take a story with the possibilities of tragedy and make it uplifting; for in the end both Maxim and Camille understand Stephan's depth and sacrifice. Yet, the trust of a friend means something, a positive note for the withdrawn Stephan (and the brilliance of Auteuil as an actor confirms this), who now wins the sympathy and perhaps the real love of both his friends. He claims no rights of his own, checks both his id and his ego, prefers to be hurt--even a touch of masochism here--knows what it is to be sad, and accepts what he must.

The question for me after viewing this movie repeatedly is whether Stephan loves Camille or not. A superb technician, he avoids her all too obvious admiration, rejects her when she declares herself Auteuil's subtle performance, and the title, suggest a void in his heart, inability to love. My impression is that his battling his real feelings, perhaps in deference to his friend. And when he summon the courage (and compassion) to administer a euthanasia shot to a dying friend, Camille takes a second look at a man she thought lacks a heart. Her parting look at the last café scene clearly shows she still loves him, for different reasons. A fine touch, a refusal to love, when love is also betrayal.

Mission - Impossible (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

Average customer rating:

Mission - Impossible (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]
Starring: Emmanuelle Béart , Andrzej Borkowski , Ion Caramitru , Henry Czerny , and Garick Hagon
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

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Mission - Impossible II (2-Disc Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]
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Mel Gibson's Apocalypto [Blu-ray]

ASIN: B000O59AFC
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Product Description

Tom Cruise ignites the screen in this runaway smash hit that "holds you on the edge of your seat before blasting you out of it." (Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times). Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, a secret agent framed for the deaths of his espionage team. Fleeing from government assassins, breaking into the CIA's most impenetrable vault, clinging to the roof of a speeding bullet train, Hunt races like a burning fuse to stay one step ahead of his pursuers... and draw one step closer to discovering the shocking truth.

Mission - Impossible (Special Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

The BEST of Mission Impossible...
A Classic Action Flick
Great as is all of Tom Cruise's movies
The best of the three
Bastardized!!

Mission - Impossible (Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: Tom Cruise , Jon Voight , Emmanuelle Béart , Henry Czerny , and Jean Reno
Director: Brian De Palma
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Mission - Impossible II (Special Collectors Edition) [HD DVD]
Mission - Impossible II (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
Mission Impossible III (Widescreen Edition)
Minority Report (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
King Kong - Extended Cut (Three-Disc Deluxe Edition)

ASIN: B000EGDB10
Release Date: 2006-04-11

Amazon.com essential video

A flashy, splashy summer-movie blockbuster that's fun and exciting without being mindless? That's the impossible mission accomplished by director Brian De Palma, star-coproducer Tom Cruise, and the crack team of Mission: Impossible. Based on the '60s TV show and an almost impenetrably complex (but nonetheless thrilling) original story by David Koepp (Jurassic Park) and Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List), with a screenplay by Koepp and Robert Towne (Chinatown, Shampoo), Mission: Impossible begins with veteran agent Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) and his expert crew embarking on a mission that goes horribly, horribly wrong. But nothing is what it seems. The nail-biting set piece--always a signature of director De Palma (Carrie, The Untouchables)--in which Cruise is lowered from the ceiling to retrieve information from a computer in a high-security vault--is an instant classic. But perhaps even more impressive, at least in retrospect, is a flashback sequence in which two characters attempt to reconstruct a series of events from multiple points of view. It's pretty daring and sophisticated stuff for a big-budget spy movie, but brains were always what put the Mission: Impossible team ahead of the competition, anyway, no? --Jim Emerson

Description

Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, a secret agent framed for the deaths of his espionage team. Fleeing from government assassins, breaking into the CIA's most impenetrable vault, clinging to the roof of a speeding bullet train, Hunt races like a burning fuse to stay one step ahead of his pursuers... and draw one step closer to discovering the shocking truth.

Customer Reviews:

The BEST of Mission Impossible..........2007-04-12

It keeps you guessing and figuring it out as you go. Just the type of mystery I like! You can't go wrong with this Mission Impossible.

A Classic Action Flick.......2007-02-11

Many of the special effects are classics in their genre, and seem somewhat cliched after being copied (or improved) by numerous other films. Tom Cruise was still a credible actor when he did MI-1. Something weird happened to him on the way to the top, but when he did Mission Impossible 1, it hadn't occurred yet. The plot is typical cloak-and-dagger stuff, with a few twists, updated for the early computer age. The technical quality of the DVD is excellent, and the movie is very entertaining, even if you barely recall the storyline a week later. If you like action movies, you NEED this one!

Great as is all of Tom Cruise's movies .......2007-01-30

Heart stopping action the whole way thru it kept me on the edge of my seat.

The best of the three.......2007-01-20

Great action and story line; it really keeps you guessing...

Bastardized!!.......2006-10-03

Mission:Impossible, the TV series, told the adventures of the Impossible Missions Force -- an elite team of covert operatives who were sent to overthrow mob kingpins, foreign dictators, terrorists and others who threatened the security of the United States. Rather than engage in James Bond-like shoot outs, the IMF team worked together to covertly neutralize threats, leaving little or no trace of their involvement. Although the IMF had a leader (Steven Hill as Dan Briggs and Peter Graves as Jim Phelps), there was no star of the group -- just a bunch of individuals working together to achieve its objective. A truly groundbreaking show.

Along comes Brain De Palma's catastrophe of a remake, starring that couch-jumping Scientologist Tom Cruise. Within half an hour of the film starting, the entire IMF team, save for Cruise, is killed off, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) is exposed as a double agent and basically the entire concept of the original Mission:Impossible is shot to hell. Granted, Ving Rhames and Jean Reno are present as Cruise's new team, but Mission:Impossible is quickly bastardized as yet another Tom Cruise vehicle where he preens and postures. Making a film called Mission:Impossible into a star vehicle goes against the spirit of the original TV series. It's obscene what Tom Cruise's ego has done to Bruce Geller's original concept. This is just another action film with Mr. Cruise flashing his toothy smile and saving the world all by himself. See the original TV series and skip this piece of bastardized trash.

Average customer rating:

Some things you shouldn't mess with...
WOW! Nice twist on an old classic!
Dumas fans stay away....

The 4 Musketeers
Starring: Emmanuelle Béart , Tchéky Karyo , Vincent Elbaz , Heino Ferch , and Grégori Derangère
Director: Pierre Aknine
Manufacturer: Lionsgate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Ghost Rider (Two-Disc Extended Cut) [Region 99]
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Letters from Iwo Jima (Two-Disc Special Edition)
The Fountain (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000O76T5O
Release Date: 2007-06-05

Description

Exile and possibly death are in the cards for the Queen of France in this edgy cloak-and-dagger adventure based on Alexandre Dumas' unrivaled tale of THE THREE MUSKETEERS and their reckless, romantic friend D'Artagnan. Supernatural powers and dark mystical forces add an exciting twist to this classic tale.

Customer Reviews:

Some things you shouldn't mess with..........2007-06-16

Dumas is one, particularly if you cannot do better. The authors tried to add some supernatural elements to this story and ended up with a long, disjointed film which probably would have been better as a two-parter. Further, the film is not in English. If you watch in English, the characters' lip movements and the dialogue you hear are so disjointed the effect becomes laughable. The swordplay is beyond unrealistic as well---just one of those extended play battles where the directors clearly have no clue what an actual sword battle is. Give me the original movie.

WOW! Nice twist on an old classic!.......2007-06-11

Wow, long movie, great footage, fantastic twist on the story!
The lip-syncing was evident throughout as it wasn't a native English flick but definately worthy of any Musketeers fan collection!

Dumas fans stay away...........2007-06-10

I'm a big Dumas fan so I was looking forward to this but;

1. The writers have taken too many liberties with the original story. If they had called it something else and not associated it with the Dumas story it would have still been dreck.

2. I'm not sure what language this is in, but I'm unable to view it in its original language with subtitles, so it sounds like a bad kung-fu movie.

3. I didn't think there could be any worse portrayal of this story when I saw the Disney/Sutherland/Sheen version until I saw the John Woo Musketeer version. Now I have seen a new low.

Avoid at all costs if you are a Dumas fan.

Average customer rating:

Very cute romantic comedy from the 80's
Cates is great, but Beart makes this movie
What a bad movie!
angel power
Purchased Movie

Date With an Angel
Starring: O'Clair Alexander , Vinny Argiro , Steven Banks , Bibi Besch , and Eve Brent
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Mannequin
The Boy Who Could Fly
The Heavenly Kid
Teen Witch
Just One of the Guys [Region 99]

ASIN: B00005UW7U
Release Date: 2002-05-21

Customer Reviews:

Very cute romantic comedy from the 80's.......2007-03-26

The first time I saw this movie I was in the 4th grade. Since then, I've had this ongoing love for both the movie and French actress Emmanuelle Beart, who was the first woman I ever had a crush on, which, if you see this movie, you will know why. But beyond the lovely Ms. Beart, Date with an Angel is totally worth seeing if you are into very cute romantic comedies.

Jim is getting ready to marry his fiance Patty, a spoiled daddy's girl, when his plans are thrown into a loop. It all begins with his friends kidnapping him for his surprise bachelor party, the moring after which he finds a beautiful angel unconcious in his pool. Jim's attempts to help the angel get home complicates his life in more ways then he has ever imagined and both hilarity and romance ensue.

Date with an Angel is totally worth watching. Both adorable and funny, it will entertain pretty much anyone who sits down to watch it. If you are looking for a fun movie to watch with the whole family or just for a night with your friends, then you need look no further than this unsung 80's gem.

Cates is great, but Beart makes this movie.......2007-01-22

As the earthbound angel, the almost-impossibly lovely Beart is enchanting. Without saying a word, she's funny too, trying to walk in high heels, and eating fast food french fries.

This was one of my favorite movies from the 80s. It's well worth owning. It makes me feel good to watch it.

What a bad movie!.......2006-11-10

The other reviews for this movie looked good, so I thought I would buy it. I've ordered several other movies on Amazon - this one is the worst I've purchased. The plot was fair, most of the acting was average, but the Angel was terrible. That noise she made got on my nerves and it never got better. My wife and I tried to watch it and couldn't get over half way through it. This was a waste of time and money. Don't bother!

angel power.......2006-09-11

uh, normally i expect this movie would get a one star. However to be honest, somehow the pretty blonde angel jacks it up to five stars, plus. Even though she only has a couple sentences in the whole movie. She has nice wings too! So its a "keeper" in my collection.

Purchased Movie.......2006-07-11

I have been looking for this movie for several years. When I found it on the Amazon web site I was really excited. It was easy to order and very inexpensive.

Thanks Amazon!

Average customer rating:

Magnificent
The source of love is within not without

Jean De Florette 2 DVD Set
Director: Claude Berri
Manufacturer: Euro Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

My Mother's Castle
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Le chateau de ma mere / La gloire de mon pere - coffret 2 DVD (Original French version)
Un Coeur en Hiver ( A Heart in Winter )
Camille Claudel

Product Features:

Jean de Florette dvd

ASIN: B000K9DLRK

Product Description

Jean de Florette is an evocative adaptation of the highly regarded French novel. Two 1920s farmers engage in a bitter rivalry as one tries to tend to a plot of land and the other deviously undermines his efforts in order to conceal a valuable spring. The peasant farmer (Gérard Depardieu) who comes to the countryside to tend the land he has inherited is a naive and trusting soul seeking only to provide for his wife and daughter, while his neighbor (Yves Montand) is intent on doing whatever he can to discourage and demoralize the farmer so that he can take the land for himself. This simple tale unfolds in a wrenching fashion to a tragic conclusion, bringing forth questions about human nature and the prevalence and price of greed. Along with its follow-up, Manon of the Spring, this film will leave an indelible impression on anyone who sees it.

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent.......2007-05-08

These two movies combined are the most beautiful I have ever seen in every respect. Gerard Depardieu has long since established himself in many genres, but as the poor guy who takes all the hard knocks and keeps on getting back up again, he's as good as they get. Emanuelle Beart is absolutely gorgeous as (adult) Manon, the scenery of the Luberon is amazing, and when I was offered a chance to visit that area by friends in France I jumped at it purely based on the wonderful memories of this movie experience. I had been hoping to get a copy on dvd for as long as dvds have been an option and have had the book for many years now. I am a true fan of this very special story which surely could not be depicted any more beautifully than it is here.

The source of love is within not without.......2007-04-16

Jean de Florette

This film is in two parts (the second called Manon des Sources) but it is best seen as one film running over 230m. It tells of the tragedy overtaking two families over three generations in Provence during and after the first world war, all because of a lost love letter. Because he thinks he's lost the love of his life Cesar pins all his hopes on his only relative, and feels hatred for Florette's son by another man. He ruins him, only to find too late he's made a terrible mistake. It's a story of love turning to bitterness and spite, which leads in the end to self destruction.

Both films benefit from three of the greatest performances in French cinema, from Daniel Auteuil, Gerard Depardieu and Yves Montand.

The first film, Jean de Florette, suffers however from some major defects. The plot lurches on from unlikely coincidence to unlikely coincidence (we are asked to believe that the conspirators accidentally kill not one but two owners of the land they covert). At the end we see Manon just happening to come upon them as they just happen to unblock the spring, and understanding all - in the second film, Manon des Sources, Manon seems to have forgotten this, as she is upset when she just happens to overhear two poachers expounding the plot to one another about midway through that film. And pacing flags in the first film as we see Jean exhausting himself trying to deal with the drought, with lots of close ups of his suffering face while dramatic music swells from the soundtrack. We wonder why he's the only one affected by this drought, as all the other farmers seem to spend their time gambling and drinking in the pub. Some of these idlers do mention they might lose crops, but apparently aren't prepared to do anything much about it.

Regarded as a separate film, Jean de Florette can plausibly be accused of exploitative melodrama to an excessive degree (and very effectively done too). Seen as part of a longer film however the slowness and even the excesses add to the cumulative force of the denouement, as the story of what happened all those years ago is gradually revealed. The direction in the second part of the film (Manon des Sources) is much surer, as Berri, freed from the need to establish character, brings the tragedy to a devastating climax. Even if you cavil at the likelihood of a French peasant girl in the 20s or 30s dancing naked in the fields (her mother has abandoned her to go off and be an opera singer) or object to the clumsiness of a comedic treatment of an expert sent to advise on the drought who baffles the villages by spouting geological technicalities, there is no denying the skill with which Provincial farming life is depicted. Anybody who sees the film will understand how its people fall in love with this landscape, and will very likely do so themselves. It is perhaps important to reflect that this is a tragedy, with implications for all walks of life, and not just a story of meanness and double dealing among French farmers.

Average customer rating:

A brilliant whodunit
8 Women is Fabulous
isabelle huppert is a babe!
There is no happy love!
How great women are!

8 Women
Starring: Danielle Darrieux , Catherine Deneuve , Isabelle Huppert , Emmanuelle Béart , and Fanny Ardant
Director: François Ozon
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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La Buche
The Closet
Bon Voyage [Region 99]
Place Vendome
A Very Long Engagement

ASIN: B00007J5VT
Release Date: 2003-02-11

Amazon.com

The cream of France's cinema sirens star in the deliciously candy-colored 8 Femmes, a murder mystery speckled with ornate performances that play up the public image of the actresses themselves. Eight women find themselves snowbound in a house with a dead man--a man each of them (his wife, sister, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, daughters, housekeeper, and chambermaid) had reason to kill. Secrets tumble forth, accusations fly, catfights flare, and confrontations turn steamy, all accompanied by campy performances of 1960s French pop songs. At first, these musical numbers seem like pure kitsch, comic and entertaining, but over the movie's course, they become strangely touching. Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Virginie Ledoyen, Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Beart, Isabelle Huppert, Ludivine Sagnier, and Firmine Richard are all superb, investing their cardboard characters with a strange emotional resonance--and their costumes are exquisite. An entrancing piece of giddy fluff. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

A brilliant whodunit.......2007-06-14

Those who liked Gosford Park and The Sleuth will certainly like this flick. This movie is an interesting whodunit and styled on a stage play more than a movie and with absolutely no nudity. Must say, this is very rare for a French film.

The entire movie setting is in one house, belonging to Marcel. Marcel lives with his wife, Gaby, his two daughters (Catherine and Suzan), his invalid mother-in-law (Mamy) and his sister-in-law (Augustine). The staff comprises two maids - Chanel (an amazon woman, much like Mammy in Gone With The Wind) and Louise (a good looking young woman). Thus, there are 7 women living in the house. The 8th woman is Marcel's sister, Pierrette, who lives in the neighbourhood and whom no one in the family likes; appears she is promiscuous.

The movie begins with Marcel being found in his bed with a knife stuck in his back. The phone lines are dead, the gates of the mansion are closed and it's snowing terribly. Hence, all the 7 women are trapped in the house and are not able to get out even to call the police. Because the dogs did not bark all night and even in the morning, the 7 women come to the conclusion that one of them is the killer. What ensues are conversations amongst these women that tell their secrets - and each of them have some (not just one!). Of course, someone (a woman) had also telephoned Pierrette to tell her that her brother has been murdered; she drops by (with a lift from a baker) to ask if this was true. Thus, all 8 women gather in the same house, each suspecting each other of murder and all working towards proving it.

The plot thickens when secrets are slowly revealed; there are a lot of secrets that cross the paths of these women as well and have nothing to do with Marcel, per se.

The end is twisted and well made. I was impressed by the fact that it actually had a logical conclusion. Of course, I am going to keep the suspense going and not reveal the end in the hope that you all watch the movie!

Although the story is a bit complicate in terms of its inter-linkages, it is precisely this that makes it very interesting. The characters do break into songs periodically (5% of the show time), but that is only a way of introducing a perspective of that particular character. The musical style has been used tastefully and does not come across has jarring to the viewer. All-in-all, a really good whodunit - you will not be disappointed.

8 Women is Fabulous.......2007-03-29

I've loved this movie from the first time I watched it! catherine deneuve is truly amazing in this movie. Toi Jamais is my favorite scene!

isabelle huppert is a babe!.......2007-01-08

seriously! Anbody else think isabelle was posessing some serious 'je ne sais quoi' in this film? She's a total fox in skirts & glasses! UMF! UMF!

There is no happy love!.......2006-09-01

Ouzon explores the feminine universe through the lives and times of 8 women around the sudden crime of the only man of the house. 8 women, every one of them with their affective lacks, their tribulations. Little miseries, sorrows and disillusions. Each one oft them is potentially suspicious of having murdered Marcel.

The admirable photography and colossal arrangement of a beautiful stage, with a sublime red carpet that remind us Bergman in Cries and whispers plus the visible and well deserved homage top Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo) expressed warmly in the last quarter of the film, plus the additional musical numbers make of this film an absolute and delicious feast to your senses.

A must-see!

How great women are!.......2006-07-07

Seemingly a French take-off on the classic English Mystery Play format this delightful farce is actually a perfect proof of how great and sexy, women of all ages are (especially French women).

Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Virginie Ledoyen, Ludivine Sagnier, Isabelle Huppert, Danielle Darrieux, Fanny Ardant, Firmine Richard, Emmanuelle Béart.

Mission Impossible (Special Collector's Edition) [HD DVD]

Average customer rating:

Not really THAT confusing

Mission Impossible (Special Collector's Edition) [HD DVD]
Starring: Emmanuelle Béart , Andrzej Borkowski , Ion Caramitru , Henry Czerny , and Garick Hagon
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

Espionage | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000O59AF2
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Product Description

Customer Reviews:

Not really THAT confusing.......2007-05-14

I first saw Mission: Impossible when I was 15 and I didn't have a god-damned clue what the hell was going on. And I considered myself to be smarter than the average bear. In retrospect, it's not that muddled. In comparison to the very-dumbed down sequel it stands out as a better example of film-making made by a director who doesn't underestimate the audience.

Brian De Palma is known to be a wildly inconsistent filmmaker. From the over-rated Carrie, to the under-rated Snake Eyes, the classic Untouchables and the downright hideous Mission to Mars and Scarface, he's been through just about everything. But Mission: Impossible was his first true mega-hit. Movies from TV shows are a dime a dozen these days and are rarely taken seriously, I mean look at trash like S.W.A.T. or Dukes of Hazard, but M:I is actually supposed to be a continuation of the show, rather than a spin-off.

Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt (no, not cockney rhyming slang) an IMF agent who's entire team is killed in a phony sting operation in Prague. Accused of being a traitor he legs it before they can nab him and assembles a team of rogue operatives to find out who the REAL traitor is. Many double-crosses and double-double crosses ensue.

For those who cannot follow the plot there are some really good set-pieces with enough tension and excitement to carry the whole movie. You'll know by now the dangling scene in the top-secret room but the best scene in the movie is the high-speed train rocketing through the English countryside. While other directors might use this as a chance to show off, De Palma keeps it as realistic as possible which makes it infinitely more cooler.

Parts of the movie may seem a bit dated now and it's weird seeing Tom Cruise look like a little boy even though he was already 33. He even sounds different. And what kind of supervillian uses floppy discs? They could have tried something a bit more high-tech there.

The M:I franchise could be a helluva lot better, I suppose. The second film was terrible and the third merely average. The only thing M:I is really notable for is that it's the point where Tom Cruise evolved from simple movie star to super-megalomaniacle, control freak, religious lunatic nut.

At least it got off to a good start. But can the world tolerate Cruise long enough to ever get a fourth made?

The HD-DVD features a 2.4:1 1080p picture that's pretty good for the most part but the film was just shot too soft in many scenes and there's not enough clarity to it for it to really be a demo disc. The DD+ sound design is simply alright, nothing to write home about. Extras are pretty good, if you're into all that.

Average customer rating:

"He wanted to paint me because he loved me. He stopped painting me because he loved me"
One of the most sumptuous and powerful films about art ever made!
"Rivette? Who is Jacques Rivette?" He's a great filmmaker, that's who...
Artists and Models
Watching Paint Dry

La Belle Noiseuse
Starring: Michel Piccoli , Jane Birkin , Emmanuelle Béart , Marianne Denicourt , and David Bursztein
Director: Jacques Rivette
Manufacturer: New Yorker Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001Y4LEQ
Release Date: 2004-07-06

Amazon.com

La Belle Noiseuse is a thrilling and unconventional drama about the responsibility of an artist to his vision and the conflicts that arise when such responsibility is perceived as a threat to others. Michel Piccoli (Le Doulos) delivers one of his finest, most lived-in performances as Edouard Frenhofer, a famous painter living with his artist wife Liz (Jane Birkin) on a spacious estate in the French countryside. Frenhofer has lacked inspiration for a decade and has given up on painting. The idea behind his unfinished masterpiece, La Belle Noiseuse ("The Beautiful Troublemaker"), has been seemingly unattainable for a decade; Liz was the original model for it, and Frenhofer's exhaustion with the project has an emotional parallel to his dispassionate relationship with her.

Along comes a rising artist, Nicolas (David Bursztein), who suggests that his girlfriend, Marianne (Emmanuelle Béart), a writer, could help Frenhofer jumpstart the painting's completion. From this point, most of La Belle Noiseuse becomes a remarkable, seemingly unedited and privileged look at the development of a bond between artist and muse. Béart, fiercely brilliant, spends the majority of the film nude and continually molded into sometimes-painful positions as Frenhofer struggles--sketch after sketch, paint upon paint--to find something beyond the obviousness of Marianne's body. As the two struggle to meet each other halfway, Liz and Nicolas feel marginalized and jealous, putting pressure on Frenhofer to disregard such personal concerns or give in to them. Adapted by French New Wave master Jacques Rivette from a story by Honore de Balzac, the lengthy La Belle Noiseuse is fascinated by the artistic process; it is itself a patient process of watching ideas and aesthetic courage reveal themselves in the face of extraneous aversion. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

"He wanted to paint me because he loved me. He stopped painting me because he loved me".......2007-02-26

"La Belle Noiseuse", directed by Jacques Rivette, is a splendid albeit admittedly extremely long film that manages to make the spectator understand the possibilities and dangers that are distinctive of art. An extremely good painter can bare the soul of his subject, but that is not always a good thing, specially if the artist's ruthless eye concentrates on the worse moral traits of his model. When is it time to stop? And can a real artist betray himself and his art and not paint what he is seeing?

That is the problem Edouard Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli) faced, when he had to choose between his art and his wife. Frenhofer, an extremely famous artist, decided to stop painting a portrait called "La Belle Noiseuse", because he knew that his model, his wife Liz (Jane Birkin), would hate the results. According to Liz, "He wanted to paint me because he loved me. He stopped painting me because he loved me".

Many years later, Frenhofer gets another chance to finish his painting, thanks to the visit of an admirer, a young painter named Nicolas (David Bursztein). Nicolas suggests that his beautiful girlfriend, Marianne (Emmanuelle Béart), could be the new nude model for "La Belle Noiseuse". Frenhofer loves the idea, as does Liz. Even Marianne, mad at first at Nicolas for his suggestion, ends up embracing the challenge. However, as days go by and Frenhofer and Marianne become immersed in a world of their own, Nicolas and Liz start to feel restless, abandoned. They know that the new painting will make a difference, and that things will never be the same between them and their loved ones. But can they do something? And will it be enough?

Of course, the answers to those questions don't really matter, and you will discover them soon enough if you watch this film. What is important, then? In my opinion, the director wants to show us the process of creation through the eyes of an artist and his model, and the hard choices that sometimes must sometimes be made in order to create a real work of art. Is it worth it? And how much of himself and others should the artist be willing to risk? Those are, from my point of view, the real questions that "La Belle Noiseuse" makes you ask yourself.

On the whole, I can say that I really liked this film, but that I don't recommend it for everybody. If you are just looking for an engaging movie that will entertaing you and make you laugh, "La Belle Noiseuse" is not for you. On the other hand, if you are in the mood for a relatively little known jewel that will amaze and disturb you, making you think, watch this dvd.

Belen Alcat

One of the most sumptuous and powerful films about art ever made!.......2007-01-17

Jacques Rivette's sublime masterpiece deals with the exploration of the artistic process in terms of its exploitation for destructiveness and its transcendent power. Here we have the confrontation of an inactive painter, and a model, where we will witness the initial antagonism through a true escalade of wary hostility, driving one each other to dangerous limits.

This film deserved the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

"Rivette? Who is Jacques Rivette?" He's a great filmmaker, that's who..........2006-12-17

The French New Wave is justifiably famous in cinema circles, schools, etc.. It is still talked about today. When they mention the filmmakers that came from that school of filmmaking, they mention Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, and Francois Truffault. Rarely, if ever, do they mention Jacques Rivette. When a friend of mine asked me my favorite French directors, I said Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, and Jacques Rivette. My friend said "Rivette?" Jacques Rivette's films stand out from any other French filmmaker of his time. The other French New Wave filmmakers were prolific, whereas Rivette would make a film every few years. Rivette's films are generally very long (the most extreme example being the film Out 1, which runs 12 1/2 hours, his other films run on average 3-4 hours), and concern themselves with the artistic process. This is a 4 hour film (slightly longer than most Rivette films, but not the longest), but it unfolds magisterially and beautifully. I saw it in a theater (with an intermission), and I was entralled. It is one of Rivette's best films, and one that really shows the agony of artistic creation. Creating art is a long and arduous process. Kubrick compared his art, filmmaking, to trying to write War and Peace in a bumpy car ride, but when you've finished, it's an amazing feeling. Its pacing is very slow and leisurely, but there isn't anything wrong with that. I didn't feel bored, and I didn't feel that the film needed to be cut. It's perfect the way it is. The title is translated "a pretty nuisance", for those who are curious. This film really captures that. On a completely unrelated sidenote, I remember seeing this film with 2 couples in front of me. The women liked it, but the men were bored out of their minds. One kept shifting his head back and forth throughout the whole thing. The men were probably just hoping to get laid afterwards, so that's why they went to see it. You should really only see this film if you're a committed art cinema person. Luckily, I am. This is one of Rivette's best films, and he's a filmmaker that deserves to be better known.

Artists and Models.......2006-10-21

After living with this film for 15 years, it seems to me that the best description of its theme comes in the words of the character Liz (Jane Birkin), who in context is speaking of the work of her husband, the painter Frenhofer. According to her, it concerns something "shameful--it's not the body that is shameful, not the nudity, but something else . . ."

That "something else" is a violation, existentially speaking, of the enigma of the painter's model. Such a violation cannot be seen without the mediation of art. In a cinematic context, it is the risk the direction takes whenever it approaches its subject frontally, and we can see Rivette's tendency to retreat to wide shots, to place events off-screen, or to circle behind his players. Is this a critique of Bresson, who insisted on calling his players "models" rather than "actors?" (It is impossible not to recall the storied psychological scars Bresson's methods allegedly left on his players. ) It is clearly not that simple, for there are close-ups in NOISEUSE that seem to be as cruel to the actors as Frenhofer is to his model.

This goes beyond Bresson in other ways: Rivette, always the reader, has patched together a thumping good story from literary sources ranging from Poe to Balzac to James, and in the process has created a true mystery thriller. That the mystery hinges on four-minute shots of a hand scratching out a drawing makes it no less thrilling. It tumbles forward toward a profoundly ironic ending worthy of the best James novels.

The initial critical take on this film was that it was the most thorough document of the artistic process ever committed to film. Well, yes and no. It seems to be about the artistic process of a painter, but I think there may be a playful game of "bait-and-switch" afoot. Watch Béart. Watch, especially, Piccoli, who is a veritable encyclopedia of the actor's art, as mesmerizing in his scudding, absent-minded movements as he is in his sudden precision, always surprising. Rivette's devotion to actors is clear in all his films: think of his sets, so resembling stages with their creaky boards, a sound "effect" in Rivette that more often than not takes the place of score.

It may be that the artist of canvas, plaster, stone, or screen may reveal something secret, even shameful, in his models. It may even be that the unscrupulous artist is a thief of the soul. But Rivette, for one, shows in LA BELLE NOISEUSE that he has given these things some serious thought. And he is always generous to his actors. The result is that the trust between artist and model demonstrated in this film amounts to a strong rebuke to the idea that film cannot show thought. It can; it comes at a price, but in the hands of a master it can be as great a gift to the players as it is to the audience.

Watching Paint Dry.......2006-08-01

Can watching paint dry be riveting, interesting, and compelling? Can looking at a beautiful woman who is naked for almost three of four hours long movie be not erotic? Is it possible to watch the movie where an Artist creates sketch after sketch of his model in preparation for a painting and many scenes run in real time and not become bored but instead be totally absorbed by the painter on the screen and how he was progressing with his work? Jacques Rivette's "Le Belle Noiseuse" is certainly not for every taste but I found it immensely rewarding. It is one of very few films where creative process with all its tension, uncertainty, selfishness and self-centering of an artist who once he began working is nearly oblivious not only to his model's discomfort but to the feelings of the ones close to him have been shown on the screen with such truthful passion, technical excellence, and tremendous acting. Michel Piccoli as an aging painter Edouard Frenhofer, once famous and productive, Jane Birkin (Liz)- his much younger wife and a former favorite model, and Emmanuelle Béart as Marianne, the young, bright, and intensely intelligent woman whose presence awakened Frenhofer from semi-lethargy and made him want to paint again were unforgettable.

The film also explores a vital for any artist subject - what is more important, the process of creating a work of art or the result?

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