Product Details

• Actors: Lionel Abelanski, Laurent Bateau (II), Bérénice Bejo, Valérie Benguigui, François Berléand
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: French (Unknown)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
• DVD Release Date: November 22, 2005
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000B5XPJW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,324 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Grand Role" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Laughter and tears vie for top billing in THE GRAND ROLE, the second feature by French director Steve Suissa (Taking Wing). Stéphane Freiss is Maurice, a French Jewish actor who, along with three fellow actor friends, has been waiting years for his big break. It comes in the form of the famous American director Rudolph Grishenberg (the wonderfully cast Peter Coyote) who offers Maurice the part of Shylock in his Yiddish screen adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. But fortunes reverse quickly when Maurice learns that the role must go to another more famous actor and that his beloved wife Perla (played by the luminous Bérénice Bojo) is gravely ill. Maurice comes to believe that the only thing keeping her happy is knowing that her husband is finally going to make it big in show business, which leads Maurice to take on the role of his life.

Adapted from a novel by Daniel Goldenberg, THE GRAND ROLE is a bittersweet, romantic comedy that starts with a humorous rhythm, and then transforms into something more subtle and meaningful as the characters' fortunes turn. The friendships of the characters and the love they have for one another makes THE GRAND ROLE both a charming pleasure to watch and a moving cinematic experience.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars BERENICE TALKS..and in COLOR, January 25, 2012

By 

Jeff Laffel "rube2424" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grand Role (DVD)

After falling totally in love with her in THE ARTIST, I have begun to track down all other available Berenice Bejo films. THE GRAND ROLE was the first on my list. First off Berenice is as lovely, beautiful and charming in this one as she was as Peppy Miller. As the film begins she is as light and beautiful as a sunny day in Paris (okay. That was a little flowery, but she is a charmer.) Without giving anything away the tone gets much darker as the film goes on and Berenice is up to the task. She is a wonderful actress. I had never heard of her co-star,STEPHAN FREISS but after seeing this film I'll be looking for more with him in them as well as he is terrific in a difficult part. The two actors play a married couple and their love for one another is palpable. Beautifully done.

My one problem with the film is that change of mood I mentioned above as it comes out of nowhere and seems contrived. Once you allow yourself to suspend disbelief it plays out well. Interesting to see Parisian Jews and to hear Yiddish with a French accent! There is also one very touching moment where an old man who is clearly a survivor of the camps, defends who he is in the world.

Not a great film, but at a short 90 minutes, you could do far worse. And oh, that Berenice!!