Romain Goupil

Romain Goupil

Birth : 1951-07-12, Paris, France

History

Politically committed to the left, Romain Goupil, born in 1951, is the most eloquent representative of the spirit of the revolution of May 1968. From his first feature in 1982, Mourir à 30 ans (1982) to his latest to date Les mains en l' air (2010), he has managed to remain faithful to his ideals, quite a feat if you think of all of his fellow revolutionaries who have changed sides, lured by money and/or power. His films, whether documentaries or fiction, have failed -with one or two exceptions - to draw large audience but they will remain a mirror of a whole generation.

Profile

Romain Goupil

Movies

Godard Cinema
Jean-Luc Godard is cinema, its quintessence. Just turned 91, he has made more than 140 films. We hate him as much as we worship him. Where does his aura come from? From legendary films of course, but also from Godard himself. He is a public figure as much as a man shrouded in mystery. Everything and its opposite, he has taken all possible paths. It is not easy to seize such a legendary, enigmatic giant. Godard’s itinerary follows one direction only: a constant renewal of his art. He sees the creative act as a necessary act of criticism and deconstruction.” I always start from the negative. I am a positive man who starts from the negative”. The artist reinvents himself tirelessly, and inevitably destroys himself. This portrait wants to take us beyond the clichés of a myth that has sometimes become caricatural, to meet a man more sentimental than it seems, a man inhabited, sometimes surpassed, by his art. Because yes, Godard is human. Not just a machine who thinks and creates images.
10 mai 1981, le jour du grand soir
Self
Hans Hartung, la fureur de peindre
Director
On the Road in France
Himself
Fifty years after the events of May 68, Dany Cohn-Bendit and Romain Goupil have decided to start a journey across France. In this "road movie" they explore the territories - at times bewildering - of the Republic. Observing, listening, debating, discovering the state of the country. Its crises and its hopes. Its ordinary heroes, its gravediggers, its innovators...ON THE ROAD IN FRANCE or the tour and detours in France of two old children of 68.
On the Road in France
Director
Fifty years after the events of May 68, Dany Cohn-Bendit and Romain Goupil have decided to start a journey across France. In this "road movie" they explore the territories - at times bewildering - of the Republic. Observing, listening, debating, discovering the state of the country. Its crises and its hopes. Its ordinary heroes, its gravediggers, its innovators...ON THE ROAD IN FRANCE or the tour and detours in France of two old children of 68.
Godard Mon Amour
Cinephile
In 1967, during the making of “La Chinoise,” film director Jean-Luc Godard falls in love with 19-year-old actress Anne Wiazemsky and marries her.
Les Jours venus
Writer
Les Jours venus
Romain
Les Jours venus
Director
His Mother's Eyes
Olivier
A writer suffering from a lack of inspiration sneaks his way into the lives of a star television journalist and his lead ballerina daughter to write, unbeknownst to them, a non-authorized biography. Meanwhile, in Brittany, twenty-year-old Bruno, who lives with his parents, doesn't yet know the consequences that this story will have on his existence...
Hands in the Air
Luc
March 22, 2067. At dawn of life, Milana remembers her life, when she was a young Chechen immigrant in Paris, struggling for a better life along with her school friends.
Hands in the Air
Screenplay
March 22, 2067. At dawn of life, Milana remembers her life, when she was a young Chechen immigrant in Paris, struggling for a better life along with her school friends.
Hands in the Air
Director
March 22, 2067. At dawn of life, Milana remembers her life, when she was a young Chechen immigrant in Paris, struggling for a better life along with her school friends.
Rien dans les poches
Daniel Manikowski
25 years of the life of Marie, a Parisian party girl, first teenager leaving her mother at 17, then short star of the song, and finally mother of a teenage girl, Esther, who flees as she fled her mother.
A Christmas Tale
The Analyst's Friend
When their regal matriarch falls ill, the troubled Vuillard family come together for a hesitant Christmastime reunion. Among them is rebellious ne'er-do-well Henri and the uptight Elizabeth. Together under the same roof for the first time in many years, their intricate, long denied resentments and yearnings emerge again.
Gustave Courbet, the Origins of His World
(voice)
Gustave Courbet defied the conventions of classical French painting to become an innovator of Realism. This documentary by filmmaker Romain Goupil explores Courbet's life and work, revealing the fiery spirit that drove him to lead rather than follow.
Gustave Courbet, the Origins of His World
Director
Gustave Courbet defied the conventions of classical French painting to become an innovator of Realism. This documentary by filmmaker Romain Goupil explores Courbet's life and work, revealing the fiery spirit that drove him to lead rather than follow.
Mon homme
L'homme
Purely Coincidental
Himself
A handful of student revolutionaries from the Seventies meet up 30 years later to plan a robbery. This is not entirely correct, because they are friends, anyway, and always have been. They play cards together and go to each others’ birthday parties, have wives and children and probably mortgages. Romain Goupil’s film appears to be a throwback to the experimental days of cinema verite. Either that or it’s a home movie, shot with a video camera, to an improvised script or no script at all.
Purely Coincidental
Director of Photography
A handful of student revolutionaries from the Seventies meet up 30 years later to plan a robbery. This is not entirely correct, because they are friends, anyway, and always have been. They play cards together and go to each others’ birthday parties, have wives and children and probably mortgages. Romain Goupil’s film appears to be a throwback to the experimental days of cinema verite. Either that or it’s a home movie, shot with a video camera, to an improvised script or no script at all.
Purely Coincidental
Director
A handful of student revolutionaries from the Seventies meet up 30 years later to plan a robbery. This is not entirely correct, because they are friends, anyway, and always have been. They play cards together and go to each others’ birthday parties, have wives and children and probably mortgages. Romain Goupil’s film appears to be a throwback to the experimental days of cinema verite. Either that or it’s a home movie, shot with a video camera, to an improvised script or no script at all.
Fat Girl
Francois
Anaïs is twelve and bears the weight of the world on her shoulders. She watches her older sister, Elena, whom she both loves and hates. Elena is fifteen and devilishly beautiful. Neither more futile, nor more stupid than her younger sister, she cannot understand that she is merely an object of desire. And, as such, she can only be taken. Or had. Indeed, this is the subject: a girl's loss of virginity. And, that summer, it opens a door to tragedy.
René Vautier, le rebelle
Himself
À mort la mort !
Writer
The idea for this film about a generation and its lost ideals came to Romain Goupil after attending several funerals of friends in the fall of 1996, where the '68 generation, now in influential positions in media or politics, kept meeting each other. It seemed as if the revolution that they had tried to make was being buried with each coffin. A MORT LA MORT is in some ways an homage to this generation, now in their fifties. They were a privileged generation that thought that they could change the world, doing everything that their parents failed to do. There were no actual deaths in France as there were in Germany or Italy, but the system was not ideal for personal issues or for love. There was always a scapegoat for the injustices of the world, be it capitalism or imperialism. That way the blame could be placed somewhere else. Some of the '68 generation are still faithful to the principles of their youth and still continue to fight for the illusions of the past.
À mort la mort !
Thomas
The idea for this film about a generation and its lost ideals came to Romain Goupil after attending several funerals of friends in the fall of 1996, where the '68 generation, now in influential positions in media or politics, kept meeting each other. It seemed as if the revolution that they had tried to make was being buried with each coffin. A MORT LA MORT is in some ways an homage to this generation, now in their fifties. They were a privileged generation that thought that they could change the world, doing everything that their parents failed to do. There were no actual deaths in France as there were in Germany or Italy, but the system was not ideal for personal issues or for love. There was always a scapegoat for the injustices of the world, be it capitalism or imperialism. That way the blame could be placed somewhere else. Some of the '68 generation are still faithful to the principles of their youth and still continue to fight for the illusions of the past.
À mort la mort !
Director
The idea for this film about a generation and its lost ideals came to Romain Goupil after attending several funerals of friends in the fall of 1996, where the '68 generation, now in influential positions in media or politics, kept meeting each other. It seemed as if the revolution that they had tried to make was being buried with each coffin. A MORT LA MORT is in some ways an homage to this generation, now in their fifties. They were a privileged generation that thought that they could change the world, doing everything that their parents failed to do. There were no actual deaths in France as there were in Germany or Italy, but the system was not ideal for personal issues or for love. There was always a scapegoat for the injustices of the world, be it capitalism or imperialism. That way the blame could be placed somewhere else. Some of the '68 generation are still faithful to the principles of their youth and still continue to fight for the illusions of the past.
Venus Beauty Institute
Le médecin
Madam Nadine manages with pride the "Vénus Beauté" Salon which offers relaxation, massage and make-up services. The owner and her three beauticians: Samantha, Marianne and Angèle are pros. Contrary to her friend Marianne, who still dreams of the big day, Angèle no longer believes in love. Marie, the youngest of the three employees, discovers love in the hands of a sixty year-old former pilot, who risks everything...
A Couch in New York
Thanks
Dr. Henry Harriston is a successful psychoanalyst in New York City. When he is near a nervous breakdown, he arranges to change his flat with Beatrice Saulnier from France for a while. Both don't know each other and both find themselves deeply involved into the social settings of the other, because the decision to change their flats is made overnight. Could be the perfect amusement, but suddenly Henry finds himself beaten up by Beatrice' lover and Beatrice is considered to be Dr. Harriston's substitute by his clients...
Sa vie à elle
Scenario Writer
Yakine, bright student with algerian origins, wears the hijab. Her family and her school want to understand but she refuses to talk about it.
Sa vie à elle
Director
Yakine, bright student with algerian origins, wears the hijab. Her family and her school want to understand but she refuses to talk about it.
A Letter to L...
Writer
She was 18. They were in love and lived together for ten years. 20 years later, he receives a letter from her. L is very ill. He grabs hold of his camera and films while trying to make her talk about other things, about cinema and what’s become of those political struggles…
A Letter to L...
L.
She was 18. They were in love and lived together for ten years. 20 years later, he receives a letter from her. L is very ill. He grabs hold of his camera and films while trying to make her talk about other things, about cinema and what’s become of those political struggles…
A Letter to L...
Director
She was 18. They were in love and lived together for ten years. 20 years later, he receives a letter from her. L is very ill. He grabs hold of his camera and films while trying to make her talk about other things, about cinema and what’s become of those political struggles…
Against Oblivion
Director
Contre l'Oubli (Against Oblivion) is a compilation of 30 French filmmakers, Alain Resnais and Jean Luc Godard among them, who use film to make a plea on behalf of a political prisoner. Jean Luc Godard and Anne Marie Mieville's film concerns the plight of Thomas Wanggai, West Papuan activist who has since died in prison. The short films were commissioned by Amnesty International.
Maman
Director
Lulu is released from prison. Determined to fulfill her dream, find her kids, those of her best friend who remained locked up and go very far. The former inmate will do everything to carry out the "heist" that will get her the money.
Maman
Writer
Lulu is released from prison. Determined to fulfill her dream, find her kids, those of her best friend who remained locked up and go very far. The former inmate will do everything to carry out the "heist" that will get her the money.
Shadow Dance
Director
The French intelligence agency plants Xavier, a former militant leftist, into a fascist organisation called Janus, against whom Xavier bears an old grudge.
Half a Life
Writer
Michel Recanati was a militant leader in the May, 1968 riots in Paris, organizing many groups to meet, discuss, and act on leftist principles both before and after the disturbances. He was imprisoned for a short while in 1973. Disillusioned after the failure of the demonstrations and the death of the only woman he had loved, his life seems to have changed from a period of hope and activism to one of bottomless despair. His friend, Romain Goupil wrote and directed this biographical documentary. Death at 30 received the 1982 Cannes Film Festival's Golden Camera Award for "Best First Feature-Length Film."
Half a Life
Director
Michel Recanati was a militant leader in the May, 1968 riots in Paris, organizing many groups to meet, discuss, and act on leftist principles both before and after the disturbances. He was imprisoned for a short while in 1973. Disillusioned after the failure of the demonstrations and the death of the only woman he had loved, his life seems to have changed from a period of hope and activism to one of bottomless despair. His friend, Romain Goupil wrote and directed this biographical documentary. Death at 30 received the 1982 Cannes Film Festival's Golden Camera Award for "Best First Feature-Length Film."
Chambre 666
Self
During the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, Wenders asks a number of global film directors to, one at a time, go into a hotel room, turn on the camera and answer a simple question: "What is the future of cinema?"
Every Man for Himself
Art Direction
A look at the sexual and professional lives of three people—a television director, his ex-girlfriend, and a sex worker.
The Meetings of Anna
Assistant Director
On a trip across Western Europe to promote her newest release, filmmaker Anna encounters several individuals—familiar and otherwise—and attends to their discontents.
Marguerite Duras and the '68ers
Self
Here Duras assumes a more distant role, less an interviewer than an invested documentarian. Her questions precede footage of her main subject, the sixteen-year-old Romain Goupil, recently excluded from the lycée, among his peers and fellow student revolutonaries. After we see them discuss the complexities of their position and deal with internal dissent, Duras asks Romain if he ever forgets how young he is. Romain replies with a grin: “Totally.”