Rappeneau, Jean Paul

Cyrano de Bergerac

One of France's literary treasures commands the screen with this "exceptionally graceful adaptation" (Los Angeles Times) that received a Best Foreign Film Golden Globe® and five Oscar® nominations* including Best Actor for Gerard Depardieu!Cyrano (Depardieu) a master swordsman and poet feels he cannot woo his beloved Roxane (Anne Brochet) due to an unfortunate physical flaw: his grotesquely large nose. Resigning himself to helping another suitor the dashing yet tongue-tied Christian (Vincent Perez) Cyrano uses his mastery of words to win Roxane for him. But when Roxane finds that she has fallen for Christian's mind and not for his beauty which of her two suitors will finally possess her heart?Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: FOREIGN/LATIN Rating: NR UPC: 027616902276 Manufacturer No: 1005998

Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting France's most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literature's meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lend his words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. --Marshall Fine

The Horseman on the Roof

Olivier Martinez (Unfaithful, The Chambermaid) plays Angelo, an exceptionally gallant, Italian soldier-in-exile hiding out from his Austrian enemies in rural France, where a cholera epidemic is sweeping the countryside. Helped in a tough spot by a countess (Juliette Binoche), Angelo swears his unyielding protection to her as she searches for her missing husband. The nobler virtues hold sway as Martinez suppresses his own deepening love and desire for the lady, an admirable posture that has ironic consequences when the countess herself becomes deathly ill. Jean-Paul Rappeneau, maker of the ornamental but empty Cyrano de Bergerac, directs this adventure-romance to a nice pitch of vitality and high drama. The two leads establish a great chemistry (they became offscreen lovers and parents), like watching a pair of thoroughbreds running in the same race. --Tom Keogh

Academy Award(R)-winner Juliette Binoche (Best Supporting Actress, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, 1996) highlights this rousing, passionate adventure! In a world ravaged by revolution and violence, two strangers -- a handsome renegade (Oliver Martinez, UNFAITHFUL) and a beautiful countess (Binoche) -- find their only chance for survival in each other! Together they undertake a perilous cross-country journey where they will also discover unmatched danger, excitement ... and passion! Universally praised by critics and moviegoers, THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF is another extraordinary film from the creators of the Academy Award(R)-winning CYRANO DE BERGERAC (Best Costume Design, 1990)!

Catherine Deneuve Collection

Includes:Manon 70Le SauvageHotel Des AmeriquesLe ChocFort SaganneSystem Requirements:Running Time: 504 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/CLASSICS Rating: NR UPC: 012236224099 Manufacturer No: 22409

Bon Voyage

Occupied France the subject of a deft, breezy comedy? Believe it. Bon Voyage gathers a collection of romantics, fools, and survivors, and puts them together in Bordeaux in 1940. Loosely arranged around the ditzy figure of a famous grand-dame actress (Isabelle Adjani), these hapless creatures trip over each other very amusingly during the course of a couple of frantic days. The central character is actually a young writer (the winning Gregori Derangere), who's torn between panting after the actress or aiding the pretty daughter (Virginie Ledoyen, 8 Women) of an important scientist trying to escape to England. It would be hard to say that any of this amounts to anything substantial, but director Jean-Paul Rappeneau whips it together very attractively, and the Bordeaux location offers luscious views of a pre-war city. Rappeneau's delightful 1966 comedy La Vie de Chateau, set in Normandy just before D-Day, treads some of the same turf. --Robert Horton

Les Maries de l'An Deux (No English Subtitles)

La Vie de Chateau

The opening credits here are groovy but misleading: a series of Richard Avedon-like photographs of Catherine Deneuve looking mid-'60s cool (complete with swinging Michel Legrand music). Actually, La Vie de Chateau is set just before D-day, 1944, on a large estate near the landing beaches. The divine Deneuve is a bored wife, whose wealthy husband (the great Philippe Noiret) wants the quiet country life. Arriving on the scene are a dashing Resistance fighter (Henri Garcin), scouting the area, and a German officer--and both swoon over the blond mistress of the chateau. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau, best known for his Cyrano de Bergerac with Gerard Depardieu, displays a kicky style that might seem inappropriate for the subject, but the film is a complete delight: full of unexpected sight gags and New Wavey spirit. The D-day climax is both uproarious and redemptive. This film needs to be better known outside France. --Robert Horton

Tout feu tout flamme (Yves Montand & Isabelle Adjani)

Cyrano de Bergerac [Region 2]

Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting France's most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literature's meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lend his words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. --Marshall Fine

Cyrano de Bergerac

Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting France's most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literature's meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lend his words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. --Marshall Fine

The Horseman on the Roof [Region 2]

Olivier Martinez (Unfaithful, The Chambermaid) plays Angelo, an exceptionally gallant, Italian soldier-in-exile hiding out from his Austrian enemies in rural France, where a cholera epidemic is sweeping the countryside. Helped in a tough spot by a countess (Juliette Binoche), Angelo swears his unyielding protection to her as she searches for her missing husband. The nobler virtues hold sway as Martinez suppresses his own deepening love and desire for the lady, an admirable posture that has ironic consequences when the countess herself becomes deathly ill. Jean-Paul Rappeneau, maker of the ornamental but empty Cyrano de Bergerac, directs this adventure-romance to a nice pitch of vitality and high drama. The two leads establish a great chemistry (they became offscreen lovers and parents), like watching a pair of thoroughbreds running in the same race. --Tom Keogh