Pierre Vaneck (born Pierre Auguste Van Hecke; 15 April 1931 – 31 January 2010) was a French actor. During his career, he won a Molière Award in 1988 and received a César Award nomination in 2009. Son of a Belgian army officer, Pierre Vaneck spent his youth in Antwerp, Belgium, until the age of 17, when he started medical studies in Paris, France. Before long, he branched into studying acting, first at the Rene Simon school, and then at the Theatre Academy, under Henri Rollan. He earned his living meanwhile by working for a saddle-maker by day, and in the evenings, he recited François Villon's poems in cabarets. His début on the stage came in 1952 in The Three Musketeers in the role of Louis XIII. His first important role in the cinema was in the Julien Duvivier film, Marianne of my Youth in 1955. Pierre Vaneck was primarily a theatre and television actor. The general public knew him particularly for his television role as the father of the main character in Fabien Cosma, as well as in many other serials (Spring Tides, The Garonne...). Vaneck died on Sunday 31 January 2010, during open-heart surgery. He was married to Sophie Becker, daughter and sister of Jacques Becker and Jean Becker. His grandchildren, Aurélie and Thibaud Vaneck, are both actors, and feature in the television series Plus Belle la Vie which is broadcast on France 3 channel. Source: Article "Pierre Vaneck" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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As a young boy, future emperor Nero witnesses the mad Emperor Caligula kill his father and exile his mother. While in exile in the pontine islands, Agrippina, his mother, sees a vision telling her that her son can become emperor, but she will have to die first. She accepts the proposal. Back in Rome, Nero, now being raised by emperor Claudius after Caligula's death, Agrippina returns. She poisons Claudius' food and Nero becomes emperor. At first, Nero cuts taxes and introduces successful program...
Aux frontières du possible is a French television show that was broadcast from 1971 and 1974. The show was created by Henri Viard and Jacques Bergier, based on the latter's book Scientific Espionage. 13 50-minute episodes were made, and the series was shown on channel 2 of the French ORTF network. In Canada, the series was broadcast in 1972 and 1974 on Radio-Canada....
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L'Apocalypse des animaux is a six-part documentary series by Frédéric Rossif, broadcast in France in the early 1970s. It marks the first collaboration between filmmaker Frédéric Rossif and Greek composer-musician Vangelis....
A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world....
Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a resistance leader organize his forces....
Chris, a sexy teenager who appears mostly bare-breasted on the French Riviera, has a crush on Romain, her mother's lover. In reaction to her inability to attract his attention, she experiments with other risque affairs....
Antoine Méliot is around 40 years old and has everything he needs to be happy: a beautiful wife, two adorable children, friends he can count on, a pretty house in the Yvelines and money. But one day he decides to ruin everything in one weekend....
Antoine Saint-Just, comrade of Robespierre and youngest member of the Committee of Public Safety, is drawn into the tempestuous political & military conflicts of France under the Terror....
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Roberto goes to Marseilles to give a hand to his friend Xavier, wrongly imprisoned following a frame-up organized by his associate Villanova. Roberto sets out to seduce Villanova's mistress, but when Villanova is killed, Roberto ends up leader of the band......
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Several mountaineers attempt to climb La face de l'Ogre near Chamonix. Their starting point is a small mountain hotel from where many tourists observe them. Among these is Hélène, who has been staying there for a few weeks but who is excluded by the other tourists. Then she meets a city girl named Marion and they immediately become friends. She tells him that she is waiting for her husband who has tried to climb the mountain and should be back any day. But then the weather turns sour, which caus...
Sylvain, a suave, witty player as well as an accomplished writer and Genevieve met 10 months ago. He wanted a serious relationship for the first time so they moved to the country so they could be together and he could write....
In the 17th century, under Louis XIII, the policy of Cardinal de Richelieu aimed at the definitive establishment of a monarchic power, and gave rise to a struggle against the great feudal lords, who favored a weak central power. Numerous conspiracies against the Cardinal were led by the high nobility. The one led by Henri Coiffier de Ruzé d'Effiat, marquis de Cinq-Mars, was the last and most famous of them....
An expatriated French novelist returns to Paris when she learns that her childhood home is being placed on the auction block....
Karl de Linken, an elegant young man, adventurous and unattached, arrives in the square of a small Corsican village perched in the mountains. His presence intrigues Baron Ucciani, who reigns supreme over Santa Lucia. The meeting with the baron and his young wife Maria could divert our hero from his original project: revenge ......
The true story of General Smyslovsky and the anti-Communist 1st Russian National Army receiving shelter in Liechtenstein in 1945 and successfully resisting Soviet pressure to be returned for execution in the USSR....
A wealthy widow, Natercia, helps Alain, a poor young man, to put together the film he plans to make. They decide to pool their resources to make the project a reality. At the first screening, Natercia realizes that Alain no longer needs her....
Elise is content being the lover of Alex, a wealthy magnate who lavishes her with attention and money. When she gets religious and decides to hide from him in a French convent, Alex hires agents to bring her back....
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It is World War II, and the Nazis have taken over Poland. In this story, three citified children of Resistance fighters have taken refuge in the mountains, and they manage to hook up with three local youngsters. All six of them are being hunted by the Germans, and they are also being looked for by an adult who wants to take them to greater safety. Along the way, the children occasionally put on spontaneous theatricals....
A French sailor circa 1850, disembarks in a desert Atlantic island, and discovers a woman who had survived for many years her husband and brother, who have died while searching for mysterious valuables. The young couple discover paradise, and its end....
In a desert town, sometime in the future, a repressive government regime restricts all forms of artistic expression. At night, Theo breaks the law, risking torture and death, to paint his work on public spaces. But when his lover Elia is arrested for committing the same crime, Theo allows himself to be captured hoping to somehow be reunited with her....
In May 1978, the mining town of Kolwezi in Katanga, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Belgian Congo) is under attack from a group of communist guerillas coming from nearby Angola. The Europeans who work for the Belgian mining company and the Blacks who live in the town are taken as hostages by the invaders, who start a blood bath, shooting Europeans as well as Africans. Many of the Europeans being French, the French decide to organize a counter-attack, and to send a Regiment of...
A musician named Jacques Christens, is given a proposition by an old man. For ten million Francs he is asked to impersonate a certain Paul de Baer – a man who is supposedly exiled in the Amazone. Christens is told this scheme will save Mr. Baer from ruin. An adaptation of Boileau and Narcejac's "D'entre les Morts"....
Back from Indochina, Tony and Dick, two French soldiers, are now in possession of more than 20 million, entrusted by a trafficker. They buy a nightclub in the district of Montparnasse but are soon hunted by the thug who wants to recover his money....
Set on a remote farm on the west coast of Iceland in late summer 1936. Hrefna, encouraged by her grandmother’s stories, begins to mix past and future in her imagination, travelling back to the 14th century....
Her father having served a prison sentence, there is unending gossiping about Therese's family. Unable to put up with it any longer, the young woman leaves her native village for the canton of Bern where she manages to be hired by Anton Muller, a wealthy, authoritarian farmer. Under the young woman's spell, Anton wants to make his servant his mistress but Thérèse refuses energetically.. Later on, she nevertheless accepts to marry Anton. On the wedding day, she meets Gottfried, her bridegroom's s...
Famous writer, Marat retires to Portugal, where he lives surrounded by his family, including his wife Genevieve. When she learns she is diagnosed with cancer, she tries to hide the truth. But Marat doesn't take time to know....
Greece, in the 1920s, is occupied by the Turks. The country is in turmoil with entire villages uprooted. The site of the movie is a Greek village that conducts a passion play each year. The leading citizens of the town, under the auspices of the Patriarch, choose those that will play the parts in the Passion. A stuttering shepherd is chosen to play Jesus. The town butcher (who wanted to be Jesus) is chosen as Judas. The town prostitute is chosen as Mary Magdalene. The rest of the disciples are a...
Infantryman Jean Froissard is sentenced to two years in Biribi Military Prison in North Africa. He seems to get along, but as incompetence, corruption and sadism of his superiors (which include sexual abuse of the prison inmates) force him and others into rebellion. Court martial ensues ......
In a village in the Ardennes, during the German occupation, finding rations is becoming almost impossible. Clovis, an ordinary labourer, decides to cross the occupied zone to bring back enough potatoes to feed his family. His plan is a success but Clovis rapidly becomes obsessed with storing the precious tubers....
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A young man from the far future, bored by his surroundings, blasts off into space with only his cat and some robots for company. On a distant planet he discovers a serene, tranquil culture and falls in love with a girl. The story follows his problems adjusting to their sociological standards and customs where family units are comprised of sexual groups of eight people....
The young artist Wanda Leibovitz comes to Paris, hoping to forget unfortunate love. Soon after arrival directly at the station Wanda meets the mysterious old woman suggesting to rent at it the room (whom the old woman, allegedly, held ready for the now deceased sister). Wanda doesn't know yet that this room will change all her life shortly after it slightly opens a mysterious forbidden door....
François, a journalist, is approached on the train home by pretty a blonde. She leaves at the same station as him and follows him until he ends up inviting her to his house....
Famous TV news anchorman Pierre Nivel left Algiers for France in 1962. That's been a secret; his Paris co-workers have never known that he was formerly an Algerian pied noir. An Algerian delivers an urgent message to Pierre from a Leïla Jalal... Algiers, 1962. The Nivels live in the same apartment building as the Moslem Jalal family. Lycée student Pierre is in love with their daughter, Leïla. The civil unrest in Algeria is heating up and violence is spreading in Algiers. At school, Pierre is fri...
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Composed entirely of still photographs shot by Marker himself over the course of his restless travel through twenty-six countries, If I Had Four Dromedaries stages a probing, at times agitated, search for the meanings of the photographic image, in the form of an extended voiceover conversation and debate between the "amateur photographer" credited with the images and two of his colleagues. Anticipating later writings by Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag (who professed her admiration for the film) ...
Anthology of four love stories that have some historical basis....
As a young boy, future emperor Nero witnesses the mad Emperor Caligula kill his father and exile his mother. While in exile in the pontine islands, Agrippina, his mother, sees a vision telling her that her son can become emperor, but she will have to die first. She accepts the proposal. Back in Rome, Nero, now being raised by emperor Claudius after Caligula's death, Agrippina returns. She poisons Claudius' food and Nero becomes emperor. At first, Nero cuts taxes and introduces successful program...
A series of events beginning during the German occupation of France showing what might have happened if one thing had gone differently. The premise concerns the assassination of a German officer by a young member of the Resistance....
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An American couple in Chile is drawn into the turmoil that followed President Salvador Allende's 1973 overthrow....
In a port area of France, clashes between a gang of young delinquents and a tribe of gypsies....
French director Frederic Rossif presents this historical documentary that coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Stock footage from both World Wars are included with 30 minutes of new scenes filmed especially for the project. The historical timeline is traced from the time Czar Nicholas II is crowned. The emergence of Lenin, his death in 1924, and the later contributions of Trotsky and Stalin give the viewer a sense of death, betrayal, and ideological devotion to the comm...
La moucharde stars Dany Carrel as a young miss who loves neither wisely nor well. Duped into a life of crime, Carrel remains on the wrong side of the Law because she's hopelessly in love with a two-bit crook. Soon she becomes as jaded and hardened as her criminal cohorts. When the police threaten to throw her in the Bastille, Carrel agrees to turn informer, with the expected disastrous results....
Mircea Eliade was a traditionalist Romanian novelist and philosopher. Following the disaster of the Second World War, he moved to Paris and Chicago, becoming a respected and influential historian of religions. He acquired something of the status of a guru, as poignantly told in the 1987 documentary Mircea Eliade et la redécouverte du sacré. The film features interviews with Eliade at the end of his life, artfully spliced with cuts to religious imagery on a background of moving spiritual music. I...
Historical film directed and written by Sacha Guitry follows the the history of Paris from its founding through the significant events in the city's history....
Françoise and her husband Jean-Pierre invite some friend couples to spend a weekend in their large villa on the Portuguese coast. What follows is a romantic intrigue, with each character discovering a little more about themselves....
Excerpts and fragments from different interviews with Orson Welles making a statement to journalists in fluent French about his career and his conception of life....
A French telefilm broadcast on 30th September 1962, this is a detective fiction, set in London, 1927. The plot is set in a single space... a police interrogation room for suspects. It has only three characters; the suspect, who is an architect, and an idealist influenced by radical ideas. The other two characters are policemen, who try to coax from him the motive behind the death (murder?) of his three year old child. Even in a remastered DVD, the beta production values of a television productio...
Dutch police inspector Piet Van der Valk finds himself repeatedly crossing paths wiht the beautiful yet troubled Lucienne Englebert, the daughter of a famous conductor recently killed in a car accident. Whern the maverick inspector investigates the seemingly senseless killing of a man in Amsertdam, will Lucienne turn up again?...