TV Guide: Gerard Depardieu

Video: Tous les matins du monde - (Original Trailer)

TCM — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:49:01 -0400

Gerard Depardieu and his son Guillaume play an ambitious music student, young and old, in Tous les matins du monde (1991).

Video: Return Of Martin Guerre, The

Video Detective — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:53:50 -0400

The Return of Martin Guerre is set in France during the Hundred Years' War. Imagining herself a widow, Nathalie Baye is astonished when her husband Gerard Depardieu returns after nine years. He looks like her husband and sounds like her husband, and certainly has a working knowledge of the couple's prior relationship. Still, neither Baye nor her neighbors can shake the notion that Depardieu is an imposter--especially since he's a much nicer and more responsible person than the man who marched off to war so long ago. Matters come to a head when the local magistrate sentences Depardieu to hang for his own murder. Return of Martin Guerre was the principal source for an American film, Sommersby (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Video: Germinal

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:23:27 -0400

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

Video: Manon Of The Spring

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:02:07 -0400

Manon of the Spring (Manon des Sources) has also been released as Jean de Florette II in the US, as it is a sequel to Claude Berri's Jean de Florette. Both films are drawn from the same source: Filmmaker/novelist Marcel Pagnol's 1952 rural romance, also titled Jean de Florette. Manon (Emmanuelle Beart), now fully grown, is a shepherdess who prefers to keep her distance from the local villagers. She is determined to uncover the truth behind the death of her father (played by Gerard Depardieu in Jean de Florette) and to wreak vengeance on the men she holds responsible. The more sympathetic of the two men, Ugolin (Daniel Auteil), is in love with Manon, but this does not weaken her resolve. She causes the village's water supply to diminish, blaming this action upon Ugolin and his duplicitous co-conspirator Cesar (Yves Montand). The upshot of this vengeful behavior ends in tragedy for all concerned. The joint winners of eight French Cesar awards, Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring were released to the U.S. i

Video: Uranus

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:48:30 -0400

Uranus is set in a post-war French village that has been all but obliterated by the bombing. Jean-Pierre Marielle plays a middle-class family man who agrees to shelter many of those who've lost their homes. The polyglot of political beliefs held by these new tenants sows the seeds of discontent. The most vocal of the town's dissidents are the Communists, who terrify everyone with threats of turning in collaborators to the French Forces of the Interior. The only person in town afraid of no one is hulking innkeeper Gerard Depardieu, whose ultimate death uncovers much of the hypocrisy disguising itself as patriotism in the village. While never exactly sympathizing with the collaborators, Uranus is careful to point out that the unofficial executions of these unfortunates was no more morally acceptable than the Nazi invasion that encouraged collaboration in the first place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Video: Last Metro, The

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:13:38 -0400

The Last Metro is set virtually in its entirety in a crumbling French theatre. During the Nazi occupation, Jewish director Lucas Steiner (Heinz Bennent) hides in the basement of the theatre, while his wife Marion (Catherine Deneuve) stars in its latest production. Marion is enamored of leading man Bernard Granger (Gerard Depardieu), and he with her, but they resist temptation out of respect to her husband. When she is given a choice between loyalty to her husband and to her countrymen, her dilemma offers two logical solutions--both of which are acted out on stage during the play. This Pirandellian ending aside, The Last Metro is one of the few films to accurately capture the feeling of what it was like to live in Paris under the thumb of the Nazis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Video: Few Hours Of Sunlight, A

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:06:15 -0400

Based on a melancholy romance by Francoise Sagan, this film recounts the circumstances of a relationship from start to tragic finish. Among other things, it features an early film appearance by Gerard Depardieu in a small role. Gilles (Marc Porel) works for a news agency and has an American mistress. It is a good job, and his mistress is very pretty, but he feels depressed. He is unable to shake his melancholy and goes to visit his sister in the countryside. There, he meets a mature woman whose inner richness attracts him. They form a relationship which brings her back to Paris with him. She has cut all her ties to her old life in order to be with him and then discovers that her love for him is much greater than his for her, though he does not wish to be unkind. Indeed, he cannot conceal that he is bored with her. Devastated, and wishing to set him free, she commits suicide. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide.

Video: Pure Formality, A

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:11:25 -0400

The sweet sentimental gauze of director Giuseppe Tornatore's international hit Cinema Paradiso (1988) is nowhere to be found in this dark, Kafkaesque crime thriller that takes place, stage play-style, mostly in the confines of one room. Gerard Depardieu stars as Onoff, a famed author who has become a recluse in recent years, publishing nothing. Late one night he is picked up by police officers, who find him running across the French countryside in the rain, breathless and apparently suffering from short-term memory loss. A murder has been committed in the nearby woods, and suspecting Onoff's involvement, the authorities detain him at a leaky, dark command post to await the arrival of an inspector (Roman Polanski), ironically a fan of Onoff's work, who will interrogate his subject and try to arrive at the truth. Una Pura Formalita (1994) was produced simultaneously with Polanski's Death and the Maiden (1994), another film with a stage-bound quality featuring a long, stormy night's interrogation in a single roo

Video: Dark Portals: The Chronicles Of Vidocq

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:57:30 -0400

Vidocq (1775-1857) was a noted French detective who was one of the great trailblazers of modern criminal investigation; he's been credited with establishing the first private investigation firm, and pioneered a number of scientific techniques that are still being used today. Vidocq was also a master of disguise and a former thief with no small sense of adventure, and his exploits have been fodder for a number of novels, plays, and motion pictures in France; Vidocq is a high-tech retooling of his legend that employs cutting-edge digital technology to bring a new visual dazzle to his story. Vidocq (Gerard Depardieu) dies an unexpected death while battling his arch-nemesis the Alchemist, and Boisset (Guillaume Canet), an opportunistic journalist, sets out to write his life story, convincing Nimier (Moussa Maaskri), Vidocq's partner, that he had made arrangements with the great man himself to collaborate on such a book before his death. Boisset begins interviewing Vidocq's cohorts, but it seems someone is followi

Video: Choice Of Arms

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:56:36 -0400

This French production concerns a gangster (Yves Montand) who retires to the countryside after living a full life of traditional crime. After settling into his new residence with his wife (Catherine Deneuve), his home is invaded by an unruly punk (Gerard Depardieu) who has some new-fangled ideas about the way crime should work. The film appears in French with English subtitles. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide.

Video: Bogus

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:24:55 -0400

Albert Franklin (Haley Joel Osment) is the son of stage magician Lorraine Franklin, and has learned to do a few magic tricks of his own. However, when his mother dies and he is sent to live with his aunt Harriet (Whoopi Goldberg), it becomes clear that for him the boundary between stage magic and the real kind is just a bit fuzzy. This is fortunate, because the young man needs a friend. The friend magically appears in the form of a spirit (Gerard Depardieu) calling himself Bogus, who helps him figure out how to meet the challenge of relating to his very preoccupied aunt. She is more concerned with keeping her restaurant supply company afloat than she is with her new ward. Things change when she, too, catches a glimpse of the spirit. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide.

Video: Les Comperes

Video Detective — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:43:21 -0400

When her teen-aged son (Stephane Bierry) runs away and the police are noncommittal, a woman (Anne Duperey) convinces two old flames -- a crusading journalist (Gerard Depardieu) and a hypochondriac (Pierre Richard) -- that each is the father of her son in order to spur someone into action. Both eventually decide to search for the boy, meet up, and tell each other their stories without realizing they are looking for the same kid. This French comedy was remade in the U.S. as Fathers' Day in 1997. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide.

Video: Man In The Iron Mask, The

Video Detective — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:47:49 -0400

Oscar-nominated Randall Wallace (Braveheart) made his directorial debut with this adaptation of the 1848 classic by Alexandre Dumas (1802-70), featuring Leonardo DiCaprio in a dual role. Years have passed since the Three Musketeers, Aramis (Jeremy Irons), Athos (John Malkovich), and Porthos (Gerard Depardieu) fought together with their friend D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne). The arrogant, tyrannical King Louis XIV (Leonardo DiCaprio) desires the beautiful Christine (Judith Godreche), so he orders her suitor Raoul (Peter Sarsgaard), the son of Athos, off to face death at the front. He also sends Aramis to kill the leader of a Jesuit rebellion. Louis is unaware that his loyal protector and informant, D'Artagnan, is the secret lover of his mother, Queen Anne (Anne Parillaud). Louis' younger twin brother, Philippe (also DiCaprio) is the man in the iron mask, imprisoned for the past six years. Arthos and Porthos plan to free Philippe, abduct Louis and replace him by putting Philippe on the throne. French location scene

Video: The Thinking Man's Wrestling

The Daily Show — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:19:51 -0400

The Mona Lisa is stored in the same type of case as Gerard Depardieu.

Video: Last Holiday

iTunes — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 23:28:07 -0400

Enjoy yourself ... it's later than you think! It's advice to follow for shy New Orleans cookware salesclerk Georgia Byrd (Oscar nominee Queen Latifah) when her doctor informs her that she has less than a month to live. With news like that, it's time to give your life a serious makeover! So Georgia jets off on a dream vacation to live life like there's no tomorrow. Enjoy hearty laughs and rollicking comedic misadventures when Georgia shakes up a glamorous European resort spa while enthusiastically embracing a new look ... new moves ... and a new attitude! LL Cool J is the handsome suitor back home who's not about to let Georgia slip away. And Timothy Hutton, Gerard Depardieu, Alicia Witt and Giancarlo Esposito also star in this comedy hit that makes the good times last forever.

Video: A Few Hours of Sunlight

CinemaNow — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:22:45 -0400

In FRENCH with ENGLISH Subtitles.A star powered tale of love and betrayal starring GERARD DEPARDIEU and BARBARA BACH...