The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 2007  PG-13, 112 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Julian Schnabel
Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josee Croze, Anne Consigny, Patrick Chesnais, Niels Arestrup, Olatz Lopez Garmendia, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Marina Hands, Max von Sydow, Isaach De Bankole, Emma de Caunes, Gerard Watkins, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey
Based on French "Elle" editor Jean-Dominique Bauby's best-selling memoir, this story shows how Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) suffers a stroke and the psychological torment he endures when he suffers "locked-in syndrome" in which his brain is working, but he is not able to speak nor move his body. The one thing Bauby can do is blink one eye, and, with help from speech therapist Henriette (Marie-Josee Croze), he is able to form sentences by blinking when she calls out a letter in the alphabet. As a result, Bauby is able to author a manuscript revealing what it is like to be trapped inside one's body and relating fantasies that he has imagined. The film received four Academy Award nominations including Best Director.
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Guardian of the Night 1986  N/R, 102 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Jean-Pierre Limosin
Cast: Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Aurelle Doazan, Nicolas Silberg, Vincent Perez, Olivier Perrier, Mireille Perrier, Philippe De Brugada, Jean-Claude Frissung, Anne Gautier, Nicolas Trone
Yves (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey), a policeman, idolizes Aurore (Aurelle Doazan), though she doesn't know him. In fact, she already has a boyfriend. Yves, petty thief by day, attempts to run over Aurore's boyfriend, which has serious consequences.
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Henry & June 1990  NC-17, 136 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Philip Kaufman
Cast: Fred Ward, Uma Thurman, Maria de Medeiros, Kevin Spacey, Richard E. Grant, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Bruce Myers, Juan Luis Bunuel, Feodor Atkine, Sylvie Huguel, Artus de Penguern, Pierre Etaix, Alexandre De Gall, Gaetan Bloom, Pierre Edernac
Anais (Maria de Medeiros) and her husband, Hugo (Richard E. Grant), live in Paris. Henry Miller (Fred Ward) and his wife, June (Uma Thurman), arrive, and Anais is attracted to June. When June returns to America, she gives Henry and Anais approval to become involved in a love affair. This is the story of the real-life, 1930s' love affair between American author Henry Miller and French writer Anais Nin–with dreams of a few liaisons between Anais and June thrown in.
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La Reine Margot 1994 R, 143 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: Queen Margot
Director: Patrice Chereau
Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vincent Perez, Virna Lisi, Dominique Blanc, Pascal Greggory, Claudio Amendola, Miguel Bose, Asia Argento, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey
Based on a historical novel by Alexandre Dumas, this lavish adaptation tells of the events leading up to the "Massacre of St. Bartholomew" in 1572. Religious strife was prevalent during the reign of the Catholic King, Charles IX (Jean-Hugues Anglade). In an effort to appease the Protestants, the real power behind the throne, Catherine de Medici (Virna Lisi), initiates a marriage between her daughter Margot (Isabelle Adjani), the heiress to the throne, and Protestant Henri of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil). But this only leads to further violence.
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L'Effrontee 1985  N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: Charlotte and Lulu
Director: Claude Miller
Cast: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Claude Brialy, Clothilde Baudon, Julie Glenn, Raoul Billerey, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Richard Guerry, Simon de La Brosse, Cedric Liddell
Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg) has nothing to do for a month after school is out. Her friends are gone for the summer and her brother is also leaving town. Her life changes when she becomes obsessed with a younger girl, a piano prodigy, who will be having a concert in town. Though her life is no longer drab, problems lie ahead.
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Mina Tannenbaum 1994 N/R, 128 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Martine Dugowson
Cast: Romane Bohringer, Elsa Zylberstein, Florence Thomassin, Nils Tavernier, Stephane Slima, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Eric Defosse, Chantal Krief, Jany Gastaldi, Dumitru Furdui
Two Jewish girls are born on the same day in the same Paris hospital. Ten years later they meet at ballet class and become best friends. The story continues as they mature, find and lose loves, and find the meanings in life despite their families' influences.
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My Life in Pink 1997 R, 89 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Drama
Director: Alain Berliner
Cast: Michele Laroque, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Helene Vincent, Georges DuFresne, Julien Riviere, Daniel Hanssens, Laurence Bibot, Jean-Francois Gallotte, Caroline Baehr, Marie Bunel
A commentary on gender roles is provided in this film in which problems surround seven-year-old Ludovic (Georges Du Fresne) when he dresses like a girl and says he wants to marry the boy next door.
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Portraits Chinois 1996 N/R, 110 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: Shadow Play
Director: Martine Dugowson
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Romane Bohringer, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Marie Trintignant, Elsa Zylberstein, Yvan Attal, Sergio Castellitto, Miki Manojlovic, Jean-Claude Brialy, Mathilde Seigner
Complicated relationships can be found everywhere in this story of two costume designers–Ada (Helena Bonham Carter) and Lise (Romane Bohringer)–who work in Paris. Although there is not much insight into these two, the storyline is entertaining.
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| 1. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
2. Guardian of the Night (1986)
3. Henry & June (1990)
4. La Reine Margot (1994)
aka: Queen Margot
5. L'Effrontee (1985)
aka: Charlotte and Lulu
6. Mina Tannenbaum (1994)
7. My Life in Pink (1997)
8. Portraits Chinois (1996)
aka: Shadow Play
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