Gisèle Casadesus
1914 - 2017Born into a family of artists in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, Gisèle was the daughter of musician, composer and conductor Henri Casadesus and harpist Marie-Louise Beetz, her older brother was actor Christian Casadesus. After receiving first prize in acting at French National Academy of Dramatic Arts at the age of twenty, Casadeus joined the Comédie-Française in 1934. The same year, she married the actor Lucien Pascal (born Lucien Probst), with whom she had four children: Jean-Claude (1935), Martine (1939), Béatrice (1942) and Dominique (1954), all artists. She became the 400th member of the Comédie-Française 1 January 1939, and honorary member on 15 April 1967.
In cinema, Pierre Billon hired her in 1943 to play the role of Clotilde Grandlieus in Vautrin, adapted from Balzac's novel, alongside Michel Simon, and in 1946 for the role of Mary in L'Homme au chapeau rond, alongside Raimu.
In 1971 she was Countess Eguzon in La Belle Aventure, participated in Le Mouton enragé by Michel Deville, played the role of Nicole Leguen, wife of Jean Gabin in Verdict (1974) by André Cayatte, and the mother of Claude Jade in Les Robots pensants (1976).
Again with Claude Jade, she was Mamie Rose (1976), the "grand-mère au pair" in the film by Pierre Goutas, her greatest role. It is followed by her Catherine in Un crime de notre temps (1977) by Gabriel Axel. Claude Lelouch engaged her in 1996 for the role of Clara Blanc, mother of Bernard Tapie, in Hommes, femmes, mode d'emploi. In Aïe (2000), she is the mother of André Dussollier, and in Valérie Lemercier's comedy Palais Royal (2005) she plays the queen mother. She was Margueritte ("with two ts") alongside Gérard Depardieu in Jean Becker's My Afternoons with Margueritte (2010).
In 2013, aged 99, Casadesus acted alongside Anne Consigny and Marie Kremer in Sous le figuier directed by Anne-Marie Étienne. Casadesus was awarded Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour on 29 March 2013.
She was also an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and Grand-Croix of the National Order of Merit. She received an Honorary Molière Award in 2003 for her entire career.
Casadesus died in Paris, France, at the age of 103.
Source: Article "Gisèle Casadesus" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Le curé de Tours
Gabriel Axel
Jean Carmet, Michel Bouquet
Father Birotteau and Father Troubert, both of whom are priests at Tours, have separate lodgings in the house belonging to the crabby spinster Sophie Gamard in that city. Birotteau is an other-worldly, gentle, introspective type; Troubert, who is ten years younger than his fellow boarder, is very much of the world: he is a careerist devoured by ambition.
Le Curé de Tours
Sarah's Key
Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Kristin Scott Thomas, Mélusine Mayance
On the night of 16 July 1942, ten year old Sarah and her parents are being arrested and transported to the Velodrome d'Hiver in Paris where thousands of other jews are being sent to get deported. Sarah however managed to lock her little brother in a closet just before the police entered their apartment. Sixty years later, Julia Jarmond, an American journalist in Paris, gets the assignment to write an article about this raid, a black page in the history of France. She starts digging archives and through Sarah's file discovers a well kept secret about her own in-laws.
Sarah's Key
The Children of the Marshland
Jean Becker
Jacques Villeret, Jacques Gamblin
The film is set in Marais, a quiet region along the banks of Loire river in 1918. Riton is afflicted with a bad-tempered wife and three unruly children. Garris lives alone with his recollections of World War I trenches. Their daily life consists of seasonal work and visits from their two pals: Tane, the local train conductor and Amédée, a dreamer and voracious reader of classics.
The Children of the Marshland
The Hedgehog
Mona Achache
Josiane Balasko, Garance Le Guillermic
Paloma is a serious and highly articulate but deeply bored 11-year-old who has decided to kill herself on her 12th birthday. Fascinated by art and philosophy, she questions and documents her life and immediate circle, drawing trenchant and often hilarious observations on the world around her. But as her appointment with death approaches, Paloma finally meets some kindred spirits in her building's grumpy janitor and an enigmatic, elegant neighbor, both of whom inspire Paloma to question her rather pessimistic outlook on life.
The Hedgehog
Entre onze heures et minuit
Henri Decoin
Louis Jouvet, Madeleine Robinson
Between eleven o’clock and midnight one evening, a notorious trafficker Jérôme Vidauban is shot whilst walking in a tunnel in Paris. The case is assigned to Inspector Carrel, who is Vidauban’s perfect double. Using his resemblance to the arch criminal, Carrel manages to infiltrate in Vidauban’s circle of acquaintances and contacts. He becomes embroiled in a bizarre web of intrigue and discovers no shortage of possible murder suspects, all of whom appear to be surprised to see him still alive.
Between Eleven and Midnight
Mamie Rose
Pierre Goutas
Gisèle Casadesus, Claude Jade
Agathe and Regis have a little boy, Benoît, who is very capricious and sometimes aggressive. The couple, on the verge of divorce, is planning to go on vacation in order to better reflect on their decision. To do this, Agathe and Regis publish an ad in a newspaper: "Young couple seeks au pair grandmother to take care of little boy, 10 years old...". An old lady, Rose, shows up. She arrives with a fish and a bird she can't part with. The first contacts with Benoît are very unpleasant. Not discouraged, she realizes that he is unhappy and that he suffers a lot from feeling unloved in his family.
Mamie Rose
Love at the Top
Michel Deville
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Pierre Cassel
Nicolas Mallet, an inconspicuous and shy bank employee, one day successfully invites Marie-Paul, a young woman he hadn’t known before, in the streets of Paris to a café and sleeps with her the next day. When he tells his surprised friend Claude about the incident, the disillusioned and handicapped writer starts to guide him, leading Nicolas on a dazzling social ascent.
Love at the Top
Ces amours-là
Claude Lelouch
Audrey Dana, Laurent Couson
A theater projectionist's daughter is involved in the Resistance in WWII, but she doesn’t share his political involvement & only believes in passion. She follows the men she loves unconditionally, suffering betrayal and hardship.
What War May Bring
Graine au vent
Maurice Gleize
Jacques Dumesnil, Marcelle Géniat
A child is rejected by his father and sister when his mother dies giving birth to him. The family is falling apart; the father takes to drinking, the child is placed with a nurse. However, the little girl will take the initiative to bring the child back to the family home which she decides to take care of, thus encouraging the father to change his behavior.
Sowing the Wind
L'Aventurier
Marcel L'Herbier
Victor Francen, Blanche Montel
A scandalised Frenchman returns from Africa where he has been involved in illegal trading of mines (resulting in the deaths of many African miners). His bourgeois family are wary of the shame that he will bring so he must try to redeem himself and his family's name.
The Adventurer
