Jean-Paul Rappeneau

At the start of World War II, the fate of the free world hangs in the balance at the posh Hotel Splendide in Bordeaux. Cabinet members, journalists, physicists, and spies of all persuasions gather in order to escape the Nazi occupation of Paris. High society socialites hobnob with jailbirds. Murderous intrigues, scientific secrets and love affairs flourish. (imdb)

This merry farce depicts a satirical view of the French society: Twelve years old Zazie has to stay two days with her relatives in Paris, so that her mother can spend some time with her lover.

Embarrassed by his large nose, a romantic poet/soldier romances his cousin by proxy. (imdb)

When Jill becomes a movie star, she soon discovers that her private life is destroyed by persistent fans that won't leave her alone. Her mothers ex-lover, Fabio, tries to protect her. (imdb)

Francois Merlin is an espionnage-book writer. He likes to mix every-day character he can met in his book. In his book, he is Bob Saint Clar, his neighbour Christine appears as Tatiana and his editor Georges Charon as Colonel Karpoff. (imdb)

Farce, spy spoof, and adventure. Swarthy thieves steal an Amazon figurine from the Trocadéro and kidnap the world's authority on the lost Maltec civilization. Cut to Agnes, the daughter of a murdered man who possessed one of two other such figurines. (imdb)

In the countryside near Normandy's beaches lives Marie, unhappy. It's 1945, she's married to Jérôme, a somewhat fussy milquetoast, diffident to the war around him and unwilling to move his wife to Paris, where she longs to live, shop, and party. A German outfit is bivouacked at Jérôme and Marie's crumbling château because its commanding officer is pursuing Marie. She's also eyed by a French spy working with the Allies as they plan D-Day. (imdb)

Orson Welles plays the role of Akerman, a venetian savant, in this all star production of Marco Polo's adventures. Young Marco travels to China to help Kublai Khan fight against rebels, headed by his own son, with a new invention: gunpowder. (imdb)

Catherine Deneuve running away from an afair and Yves Montand a perfume maker isolated on a Caribbean island.

All too little known today, Le combat dans l'île subtly evokes a divided marriage -- not unusual in French films -- and a divided nation -- but not divided as seen in the then-dominant Nouvelle Vague. Political assassinations (the attempts on DeGaulle reached double figures), underground extreme right-wing groups, even international, right-wing fugitives -- producer Louis Malle was clearly making a political statement distinct from that of his New Wave confrères. (filmforum.org)

After his escape to America in the year 1787 Nicolas Phillibert wants to marry a rich American heiress. In his homeland France he is still married however to the pretty Charlotte. In order to obtain the divorce, he must return therefore to France. In confusions of the french revolution he soon gets between Royalisten and republicans. After numerous bold adventures he finds his life-merry wife as bride of the best sword fighter of the Bourbonen. (imdb)

ad feedback Victor Valance, an absent father who likes to gamble, returns home in order to take money from his family and gamble with it. His daughter is suspicious of her father's activities and messes up his plans. When she realizes however, that gangsters are trying to rob her father, her attitude changes. (imdb)

Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Belles familles is a sumptuous, emotionally affecting, and occasionally rollicking tale about a family with a remarkable past. Focusing on the Varenne clan and the magnificent country mansion that was once their home but is now shuttered due to a legal dispute, the director spins a gloriously romantic tale with plenty of humorous asides. (tiff.net)

After World War I, the French gentleman thief Arsène Lupin emerged from his convalescence in a hospital to resume his criminal activities. To his surprise, someone else has already initiated a series of robberies with his particular style, even signing one of his crimes with his own name - Arsène Lupin. (Filmaffinity)