The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq (2014)

Director
Guillaume Nicloux

Main cast
Michel Houellebecq; Mathieu Nicourt; Maxime Lefrancois; Françoise Lebrun; Luc Schwarz

Genres
Comedy, Drama

Description
In September 2011 writer Michel Houellebecq briefly disappeared off the face of the earth. Wild rumours began circulating on the Internet that he’d been abducted by Al-Qaeda or aliens from outer space. Some Twitter users even expressed relief that the controversial author was suddenly no longer around. This film now reveals what really happened: Three tough guys variously with impressive hairstyles and bodybuilder physiques carried off the star intellectual, taking him out of the daily stress of dodging autograph hunters and having his flat renovated and bringing him to a beautiful rural underdog idyll, full of dog grooming, bodybuilding demonstrations, junk cars and Polish sausages. But who was to pay the ransom?


Similar movies

Set in a five star Tokyo hotel on New Year's Eve, the film follows the misadventures of various hotel staff and guests in the run-up to midnight. The plot involves numerous characters, the different problems or situations they face in the run-up to midnight, and the ways that these different storylines interact and are resolved. The film is reminiscent of the Hollywood screwball comedies of 1930s and 1940s, and explicitly references the 1932 film Grand Hotel, whose plot also followed the interlinked lives of various characters in a fictional hotel over a short period.
A wealthy, but evil man named Zafar Khan, has fallen in love a girl named Salma and wants to marry her, but she and her father do not let him. Zafar is arrested for various crimes and is imprisoned for 10 years, but when he is discharged, he sees that Salma is married to a good man named Aslam Khan. Zafar Khan, wants to convince Salma to marry him but Salma refuses. Zafar plots his revenge...
Sundararajan (Shiva) comes to Chennai from Coimbatore on his way to Saudi Arabia. He is received by Marthandam (S. P. B. Charan), a veterinary doctor, who is going to marry his sister soon. After the travel agent informs Sura that he cannot taste liquor or women in Saudi, he, along with Marthandam, goes to a wine shop to have the last gulp. It’s a dry day thanks to elections. Though disappointed, Sura is determined to taste the ‘quarter’ and starts his journey to various places in Chennai where he is told that liquor would be available. He goes to a politico who supplies wine for votes, a star hotel, an Anglo-Indian group of youngsters, a fish market, a gambling den, a kulfi shop and a brothel house among other places, all in search of ‘quarter’.
Beijing, the present day. Popular TV personality Da Peng (Da Peng) is invited by gangster businessman Wang Hai (Liang Chao) to make a film in which he will invest. Wang insists that Da Peng's co-star is TV drama actress Du Xiaoxiao (Yuan Shanshan). However, after a nightclub scandal involving Da Peng goes viral, he's blackballed by a powerful internet executive (Charles Zhang) and finds himself unable to attract any male co-star. Wang also wants his investment back. Da Peng decides to make his own movie on the cheap, using a script he has about an alien, A Li, who arrives on Earth and has various adventures as a superhero.
The 38-year-old bodybuilder Dennis would really like to find true love. He has never had a girlfriend and lives alone with his mother in a suburb of Copenhagen. When his uncle marries a girl from Thailand, Dennis decides to try his own luck on a trip to Pattaya, as it seems that love is easier to find in Thailand. He knows that his mother would never accept another woman in his life, so he lies and tells her that he is going to Germany. Dennis has never been out traveling before and the hectic Pattaya is a huge cultural shock for him. The intrusive Thai girls give big bruises to Dennis' naive picture of what love should be like, and he is about to lose hope when he unexpectedly meets the Thai woman Toi.
Valerio Mastandrea is Franz, a night bus driver on the airport route who owes a lot of money from poker debts. He's stumbled upon by the variously named Leila, a thief who has accidentally become wrapped up in a secretive blackmail deal involving the President. As the film unfolds, a secret war between factions of the Security Services, a series of confusions among the various criminal fraternities whose activites have been touched upon by the deal, and Leila's past all complicate the situation.
Stay Hungry is a 1976 dramatic comedy film by director Bob Rafelson from a screenplay by Charles Gaines. The story centers on a young Birmingham, Alabama, scion, played by Jeff Bridges, who gets involved in a shady real-estate deal. In order to close the deal, he needs to buy a gym building to complete a multi-parcel lot. When he visits the gym, however, he finds himself romantically interested in the receptionist (Sally Field) and drawn to the carefree lifestyle of the Austrian body builder "Joe Santo" (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who is training there for the Mr. Universe competition.
Shruti (Anushka Sharma) and Bittoo (Ranveer Singh) are two 20-something years olds who have just graduated from Delhi University. Apart from this the two are very different from each other. Shruti, who is from a middle-class household, is very driven, ambitious and focused, while Bittoo is a slacker who is mostly interested in having fun with his friends. A chance meeting leads them to reluctantly start a business venture as Wedding Planners together, with one strict rule: not to mix business with pleasure. Through their business they experience the ups and downs of the lavish world of the glamour and glitz of Delhi weddings, something that will test their friendship over time and eventually make them discover one another. What will be the ending of this sweet story!
On a remote, isolated, unnamed Lebanese village inhabited by both Muslims and Christians. The village is surrounded by land mines and only reachable by a small bridge. As civil strife engulfed the country, the women in the village learn of this fact and try, by various means and to varying success, to keep their men in the dark, sabotaging the village radio, then destroying the village TV.
A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.
Cannes, 1999. Alice, an actress, wants to direct an indie picture. Kaz, a talkative (and maybe bogus) deal maker, promises $3 million if she'll use Millie, an aging French star. But, Rick, a big producer, needs Millie for a small part in a fall movie or he loses his star, Tom Hanks. Is Kaz for real? Can Rick sweet-talk Alice and sabotage Kaz to keep Millie from taking that deal? Millie consults with Victor, her ex, about which picture to make, Rick needs money, an ingenue named Blue is discovered, Kaz hits on Victor's new love, and Rick's factotum connects with Blue. Knives go in various backs. Wheels spin. Which deals - and pairings - will be consummated?
A monk turned body-builder, with the gift to see into people's lives, befriends a female cop, and uses his gift to change the force of Karma and her destiny.
Hard-drinking novelist Zach Hutton spirals out of control after his wife and mistress both leave him. Alone and crippled by a bad case of writer's block, Zach slips in and out of casual relationships and one-night stands, while his drinking becomes more and more severe. With the help of a bartender and his therapist, Zach confronts his demons -- women and alcohol -- and rediscovers his writing voice.
Shinohara, a young bodybuilder, joins a para-military sect in northern Japan. His instructor, Takizawa, takes a liking to the new recruit. After an early “special” training session the two develop a lasting and loving relationship. “Beautiful Mystery” was the first gay “adult” film to come out of Japan. Although tame by U.S. standards, it is ground–breaking nonetheless.
A funny and melancholic multi-layered story about a set of characters searching for happiness in a small town, during a hot summer. The script has beautiful twists and the casting is absolutely perfect. It’s a very moving story and it involves the lives of anyone: who doesn’t feel lonely once in a while? Two desperate housewives, a preacher, a priest, a bodybuilder and a fat boy cross and intertwine in this story about the lack of communication, the search for love and the need for love. The movie has laughs, tears and love, something we all expect ...
Grazia is a free-spirited mother-of-three married to shy fisherman Pietro and living on the idyllic but isolated island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. She shows signs of manic depressive behavior — one moment she's laughing wildly and swimming half-naked in the sea, while the next she's curled in a ball on her bed. Out of her earshot, the adult members of her extended family vaguely discuss sending her to a facility of some sort in Northern Italy.
Benjamin has lost his wife. In a bid to start his life over, he purchases a large house that has a zoo. This is welcome news for his daughter, but his son is not happy about it. The zoo is need of renovation and Benjamin sets about the work with the head keeper, Kelly, and the rest of the zoo staff. But, the zoo soon runs into financial trouble. The staff must get the zoo back to its former glory, pass a zoo inspection, and get it back open to the public.
A bombastic, womanizing art dealer and his painter friend go to a seventeenth-century villa on the Riviera for a relaxing summer getaway. But their idyll is disturbed by the presence of the bohemian Haydée, accused of being a “collector” of men.
When Chicago firefighter Jack Moniker retires and moves to a small Caribbean island, he is befriended by the owner of a run-down resort. Together they renovate the resort and lure tourists to Club Paradise in an effort to fight off corrupt officials and businessmen who want to claim the resort as their own.
El Cid Rivera is 33 and has never left Manhattan Island; neither have his childhood friends, whom he meets every day at the same bar around the same table. He's tired of his humdrum life and a going-nowhere career. And he's been saddled with the name of an epic hero played on-screen by Charlton Heston (his mother's favorite). Bouncing between dead-end jobs, El Cid struggles to find his calling, yet fears he'll never succeed on the epic scale his mother expects. To find escape, El Cid takes to the empty streets of New York at night - as part of a group who call themselves Asphalt Nomads. He and his fellow travelers cruise Manhattan's 900 miles of open blacktop after midnight in boat-like '70s Buicks and Lincolns to find a sense of control, serenity and briefly, freedom. A tale of self-discovery and the search for purpose
After living 45 years in Germany, the Turkish Hüseyin Yilmaz, seventy, announces to his family that he has bought a house in Turkey and they should return to make the necessary reforms. The idea is unwelcome and causes very heated discussions. In addition, Canan, a granddaughter of Hüseyin, announces she is pregnant and the father is her English boyfriend, and no one knew anything. To comfort his cousin Cenk, a child of six years, which was humiliated at school and labeled as "foreign", Canan tells a fantastic story about how they left Turkey and went to Germany.
The Runway is inspired by the true story of a South American pilot who landed his plane near Mallow, in 1983. Against all odds, the people of the town came together to build a runway to get him home and briefly caught the imagination of the nation. It is the story of Paco, a young boy without a father who adopts the pilot and convinces the town to build a runway to get him home.
Witty narration follows the history of Versailles Palace; founded by Louis XIII, enlarged by autocratic Louis XIV, whose personal affairs and amours, and those of his two successors, are followed in more detail to the start of the Revolution, after which the story is brought rapidly up to date. A huge cast plays mainly historical persons who appear briefly.
A hypocritical swinging college student cat raises hell in a satiric vision of various elements on the 1960's.
Kaan and Mete, co-hosts of a mid 1990s radio show called Kaybedenler Kulübü (Losers' Club), struggle to deal with their daily lives after their show becomes an instant hit. Kaan meets Zeynep, the girl of his dreams, but their relationship comes under pressure as the show continues to stir controversy and attract fans from every segment of Istanbul society.
From Jane Austen’s novella, the beautiful and cunning Lady Susan Vernon visits the estate of her in-laws to wait out colorful rumors of her dalliances and to find husbands for herself and her daughter. Two young men, handsome Reginald DeCourcy and wealthy Sir James Martin, severely complicate her plans.
David Samuels is from an intellectual Jewish family from the posh Amsterdam Old South, where he is often mistaken as Moroccan because of his dark hair. David is a remarkable man on a mission: to find a ghetto fabulous queen with great tits and thick buttocks. His parents and friends declare him mad, but David continues unabated. His search leads him to the Bijlmer, where, after some wild adventures he is left disappointed. Will David ever find his ideal woman - a large, dark sex goddess with booty and brains?
This comedic drama features two young couples, and two old friends who reapear in the two couples lives. The story takes place mostly in two apartments across the street from each other in Mexico City at the end of the millenium. Intellectual Carlos is not offering as much love as wife Ana needs. Tomas, a world-traveling friend of the couple reappears after many years abroad. Across the street, womanizing executive Miguel and suffering wife Andrea are joined by visiting friend Maria. The presence of guests Tomas and Maria triggers lust, rejection, infidelities, reconciliation and other consequences of suppressed love and marital relations, among the six friends-three guys and three girls. Written by ElianaG
Laida Magtalas is a modern-day Belle who works hard to provide for her family while hoping that someday she will meet her prince charming and that they will live happily ever after together. That would-be prince charming is none other than "Miggy", the youngest member of the Montenegro clan — a well established family in the business world. Moony Laida's desire to finally meet Miggy leads her to apply as an Editorial Assistant at his newly launched men’s magazine, "Bachelor". In spite of the fact that a relationship with Miggy may prove to be a long shot, Laida revels working in such close proximity with the man of her dreams.
Based on the award-winning novel by Rusty Whitener, Season of Miracles follows the Robins, an underdog Little League team through their 1974 season with newcomer and autistic baseball savant, Rafer. Team leader Zack takes Rafer under his wing despite taunting from their rivals, the Hawks.
Morning Express ace reporter 'Timmy' Blake uses her wiles and charms to get the scoop on rival papers, and keep her editor happy. When the Express gets a tip that a wealthy old man was poisoned and 'Timmy' spots the young widow in a nightclub only a day later, she descends on the town where the death took place to dig out the facts. When her reporting results in the arrest of the young widow, 'Timmy' continues to dig, since she isn't quite convinced that the facts she reported cover all the angles.
A misfit group of New Mexico cowboys find themselves on the journey of a lifetime when they learn their crooked-footed racehorse qualifies to run in the Kentucky Derby. Based on the true story of Mine That Bird, the cowboys must overcome impossible odds even before they reach Churchill Downs and the land of Kentucky's blue bloods.
The film centers on a big Polish family. Jadzia is the mother and the ruler of the Pzoniak family (she has five children). Though she's happily married to Bolek, she is also having a long-time affair with Roman. Her young daughter Hala is having an affair with neighbour cop Russell and becomes pregnant by him. Russell is pressed hard to marry Hala.
Polish immigrant Karol Karol finds himself out of a marriage, a job and a country when his French wife, Dominique, divorces him after six months due to his impotence. Forced to leave France after losing the business they jointly owned, Karol enlists fellow Polish expatriate Mikolah to smuggle him back to their homeland.
When the factory in Molkom shuts down, Robin leaves his beloved hometown to try his luck in Stockholm as a wedding photographer. This experience changes not merely his outlook on life but also his hairstyle.
Two teenagers, both newcomers to London, forge an unlikely friendship over the course of a hot summer. Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) is a runaway from Nottingham; Marek (Piotr Jagiello) lives in the district of Somers Town, between King's Cross and Euston stations, where his dad is working on a new rail link.
Tamasha is about the journey of someone who has lost his edge in trying to behave according to socially acceptable conventions of the society. The film is based on the central theme of abrasion and loss of self that happens in an attempt to fit in oneself back.
Naina is a very serious girl with a very serious life. But one day, her soul is awakened by the happy-go-lucky Aman, who teaches her that life is meant to be lived. Naturally, she falls in love with him. But Aman is harboring a secret that keeps him from reciprocating Naina's love. But he cannot stand having her live a life without love, so he sets off on a mission to fill her life with someone else's love - someone she already knows...
Three friends meet after their marriages who are all disturbed by their wifes decided to take a break and look for the other girl but they put themselves in trouble and accused for the murder of a girl.
We have Carina Lau has Selina the lead actress who is a psychoanalyst, who hang out with her friends (Athena Chu has a erotic story for woman, Yoyo Mung has a multi-restaurant owner who like the danger side, and Pinky Cheung whose dad is a triad boss goes retirement and know how to fight). The story begin when Selina ex came to her and ask her to take care of her wild daughter (Cecilia Cheung in another bizarre look) and tried to cure her wild behaviour. Well the rest of the storyline consist of the 4 woman and there relationship with the guys, we have Tony Leung Ka Fai going after Carina Lau, Athena Chu going after Edisen Chen, Picky Cheung going after Andy Hui, and Lu Yi going after Yoyo Mung.
When Mutta was 12-years-old and Hibito was 9-years-old the two brothers saw what they thought was an UFO flying towards the moon. They made a pact then to become astronauts and one day fly into space together. Fast forward to the year 2025. Older brother Mutta (Shun Oguri) works as for an automotive company and his younger brother Hibito works as an astronaut. Although Mutta failed to follow through on his childhood promise, after losing his job, he receives a phone call from Hibito which reignites his childhood dream of flying into outer space ...
The Misfortunates (Dutch: De helaasheid der dingen) is a 2009 Belgian comedy-drama film from director Felix Van Groeningen, adapted from the book De helaasheid der dingen by Belgian writer Dimitri Verhulst. The film stars Koen De Graeve, Johan Heldenbergh, Wouter Hendrickx, Bert Haelvoet, Valentijn Dhaenens, Kenneth Vanbaeden and Gilda De Bal.
Trevor Newandyke is a struggling comedian. Not only does he bomb on stage, but he bombs in everyday life. He’s fed up with all the jerks who push him around. All he wants is a break, and for someone to get him. Instead of taking a breath and getting himself together or taking his anger to the stage, he turns to the loud din of his headphones and the crackling glow of fire to ease his mind. He’s not only a lousy comic, but a pyromaniac, as well.
A single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his birthday as he runs to seek an actress' autograph. Beside herself with grief, she returns to Barcelona to tell the boy's father about the death of the son he never knew he had.
The film centers on a Spanish tapas bar and the love lives of the loosely interconnected people in the neighborhood surrounding the bar. The pairs of lovers include a middle aged woman and a young man; an elderly, drug dealing woman and her terminally ill husband in poor health; the tapas bar owner and his estranged wife; and two Chinese immigrants.
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.
Tholi Prema ( English: First Love) is a 1998 Telugu romantic comedy film directed by Karunakaran and produced by G.V.G Raju. It stars Pawan Kalyan and Keerthi Reddy in lead roles. The film was later remade in Hindi as Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai starring Tusshar Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. It was dubbed in Tamil as Aanandha Mazhai. This movie was mentioned in the 2006 Telugu movie Happy starring Allu Arjun and Genelia D'Souza.
The King of Comedy is a bitterly evil satire of show business. Rupert Pupkins is obsessed with becoming famous so he aims at kidnapping one of the best in the business, Jerry Langford.
Lovely Singh (Salman Khan) is the bodyguard of Sartaj Rana's (Raj Babbar) daughter Divya Rana (Kareena Kapoor). He is very devoted to his duties but irritates her all the time by following her everywhere. Consequently, Divya and her friend (Hazel Keech) call Lovely and start a prank love affair. Lovely starts loving the mystery person but doesn't realizes that it is Divya (who also falls in love with him) who was behind all of this. Sartaj Rana (Raj Babbar) suspects him and Divya to be in love and sends criminals to kill him in case his lover turns out to be Divya. Sensing this, Divya sends her friend to Lovely to tell him her true identity. In a twist, it is revealed that the friend is also in love with Lovely. She falsely accepts that she is her strange lover. They marry and have a child. She dies early and reveals to her son about her fraud and asks him to unite Lovely and Divya.
A pint-sized cast illuminates this musical that is unlike any other ever made. Set in 1929 New York City, Bugsy Malone captures a flashy world of would-be hoodlums, showgirls, and dreamers - all played by child actors! As Tallulah, the sassy girlfriend of the owner of Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy, future superstar Jodie Foster dances and sings her way into our hearts.
Viktor Navorski is a man without a country; his plane took off just as a coup d'etat exploded in his homeland, leaving it in shambles, and now he's stranded at Kennedy Airport, where he's holding a passport that nobody recognizes. While quarantined in the transit lounge until authorities can figure out what to do with him, Viktor simply goes on living -- and courts romance with a beautiful flight attendant.
Minor leaguer Carlton Garret takes an unexpected road trip to track down his estranged father, legendary baseball player Kyle Garret when Carlton’s mother becomes sick. Once reunited, Carlton struggles to deal with the series of misadventures caused by his father’s antics. Attempts at bonding come to a head as the mismatched duo make their way from Ohio back home to Houston to reunite the family.
When the secret notebook of a young girl who fancies herself a spy is found by her friends, her speculations make her very unpopular! Can she win her friends back?
My Wife is an Actress is a French Romantic Comedy/Drama film starring real life couple Yvan Attal and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Attal plays a journalist who becomes obsessively jealous when his actress wife gets a part in a movie with an attractive co-star. Attal also wrote and directed the film.
Napoleon, exiled, devises a plan to retake the throne. He'll swap places with commoner Eugene Lenormand, sneak into Paris, then Lenormand will reveal himself and Napoleon will regain his throne. Things don't go at all well; first, the journey proves more difficult than expected, but more disastrously, Lenormand enjoys himself too much to reveal the deception. Napoleon adjusts somewhat uneasily to the life of a commoner while waiting, while Lenormand gorges on rich food.
The Disciples of James Dean meet up on the anniversary of his death and mull over their lives in the present and in flashback, revealing the truth behind their complicated lives. Who is the mysterious Joanne and what's the real story behind Mona's son, James Dean Junior ?
Everybody knows that your life is a story. But what if a story was your life? Harold Crick is your average IRS agent: monotonous, boring, and repetitive. But one day this all changes when Harold begins to hear an author inside his head narrating his life. But when the narration reveals he is going to die, Harold must find the author and convince them to change the ending.
A spoiled little rich girl arrives at Sorority High with studying the last thing on her mind. Spreading malicious rumours and splitting people up are just some of the things she finds amusing. Her behaviour not surprisingly though, starts to alienate her from her fellow classmates.
The film is about the difficulty of maintaining a solid relationship in modern times. Eight married college friends plus one other non-friend (all of whom have achieved middle to upper class economic status) go to Colorado for their annual week-long reunion, but the mood shifts when one couple's infidelity comes to light. Secrets are revealed and each couple begins to question their own marriage

© Valossa 2015–2024