Amidou
1935 - 2013Hamidou Benmessaoud (Arabic: حميدو بنمسعود; 2 August 1935 – 19 September 2013), best known as Amidou, was a Moroccan-French film, television and stage actor.
Born in Rabat, at 17 Amidou moved to Paris to attend the CNSAD. In 1968 he made his debut on stage, in Jean Genet's Les paravents.
Amidou is probably best known for his association with director Claude Lelouch, with whom he has shot eleven films, including the Lelouch's film debut Le propre de l'homme (1960). He made his debut in a Maroccan film in 1969, starring in Soleil de printemps directed by Latif Lahlou. His career includes roles in Spaghetti Westerns like Buddy Goes West and several American productions, including William Friedkin's Sorcerer, John Frankenheimer's Ronin and John Huston's Escape to Victory.
In 1969 Amidou was awarded best actor at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival for his role in Life Love Death by Claude Lelouch, later he won best actor awards at the Cairo Film Festival (for Pursuit by Leila Triquie) and at the Tangier Film Festival (for Rachid Boutounes' Here and There). In 2005, he received at the hands of Martin Scorsese a Lifetime Career Award at the International Film Festival of Marrakech. He was also the first Moroccan actor to have won an acting award at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art.
Amidou died on 19 September 2013 in Paris, France. He was 78.
Sorcerer
William Friedkin
Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer
Four men from different parts of the globe, all hiding from their pasts in the same remote South American town, agree to risk their lives transporting several cases of dynamite (which is so old that it is dripping unstable nitroglycerin) across dangerous jungle terrain.
Sorcerer
Ronin
John Frankenheimer
Роберт Де Ниро, Jean Reno
A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.
Ronin
Spy Game
Tony Scott
Robert Redford, Уильям Брэдли "Брэд" Питт
On the day of his retirement, a veteran CIA agent learns that his former protégé has been arrested in China, is sentenced to die the next morning in Beijing, and that the CIA is considering letting that happen to avoid an international scandal.
Spy Game
Heaven's Doors
Swel Noury, Imad Noury
Latifa Ahrar, Amidou
As co-directed by brothers Swad and Imad Noury (and produced by their mother, Pilar Cazorla), The Moroccan picture Heaven's Doors (2005) employs an episodic narrative, with three related substories presented sequentially. The Nourys shoot the episodes in distinct cinematographic styles (and with distinct overtones) suited to each tale, recalling Humberto Solas's masterpiece Lucia (1969).
Heaven's Doors
La vie, l'amour, la mort
Claude Lelouch
Amidou, Caroline Cellier
François Toledo, married businessman and father, falls head-over-heels in love with Janine, a work colleague. However, he is soon found out: after three dates, he strangles some prostitutes, when, the victim of blackmail, he becomes dishonored. He is taken to court, and sentenced to be killed by a guillotine.
Life Love Death
Lalla Hoby
Mohamed Abderrahman Tazi
Amidou, Samia Akarriou
As Haj Moussa is caught by border guards while trying to reach Gibraltar in a small boat, he is sent to prison, and his family tries to help him return home, while his wife tries to procure money for the household and run the business.
Lalla Hobby
Aïcha : La grande débrouille
Yamina Benguigui
Sofia Essaïdi, Rabia Mokeddem
Rid of her rival Gloria, Aïcha will do everything to make her boss proud, with Ginette's help. Patrick presents her with a love ultimatum: their mothers must meet. And to top it off, things are getting worse in the neighborhood.
Aïcha : La grande débrouille
La belle histoire
Claude Lelouch
Gérard Lanvin, Béatrice Dalle
A film with emphasis on visuals and music, the plot concerns characters who meet in present time, mainly the male gypsy Jesus, and the female thief and con-artist Odona, who share parallel experiences from lives 2000 years in the past. These stories are juxtaposed.
The Beautiful Story
Buddy goes West
Michele Lupo
Bud Spencer, Joe Bugner
Trinity series star Bud Spencer returns to the Wild West in director Michele Lupo's comic tale of an outlaw drifter, Buddy, who is mistaken for a doctor after his Indian companion inadvertently steals a bag of surgical instruments. When a band of murderous outlaws attempts to overrun the small town Buddy is passing through, the presumed medico shows that his true talent is cracking skulls. Music is composed by Ennio Morricone.
Buddy Goes West
