Farid Chopel Movies, TV Shows, and Filmography
Farid Chopel
Acting
Biography
Farid Chopel, whose real name was Farid Amar Rabia, was born on December 4, 1952, in Paris and died on April 20, 2008, in the same city. He was a French actor and singer. The only child of Algerian immigrant parents, Farid Chopel was born in Paris and had a relatively happy childhood despite the absence of his father and the arrest of his stepfather, who was a leader in the FLN (National Liberation Front). Raised by his mother and grandmother, he initially aspired to become a doctor, until he discovered theater in high school. Blessed with an unusual physique and boundless energy, the young Chopel made his debut in experimental physical theater with the troupe "Laïla," and events quickly unfolded from there. In the late 1970s, he became the writer and performer of several famous shows, which he would perform throughout his career and all over the world, including "Chopélia," "Les Aviateurs," and "Le cri de la girafe." An icon of the 80s, Farid Chopel is first and foremost a stage performer. This didn't stop him from answering the call of cinema. Tony Gatlif offered him his first film role in "Les Princes," alongside Gérard Darmon and the director himself. Several memorable supporting roles followed, under the direction of prestigious filmmakers such as Bertrand Blier (My Best Friend's Girl, 1983), Denis Amar (The Bill, 1984), Gérard Oury (The Revenge of the Feathered Serpent, 1984), Josiane Balasko (Bag of Knots, 1984), and Agnès Varda (Jane B. by Agnès V., 1987). In the mid-1980s, his stage and film career was at its peak. Constantly involved in the nightlife scene and accumulating shows and other advertising and film appearances at a frenetic pace, Farid Chopel began a long downward spiral at the dawn of the 1990s. The reason: his severe addiction to drugs and alcohol. His addiction became so severe that he was no longer able to work. He underwent several stints in rehab. He managed to escape this hell in the early 2000s, thanks in particular to the support of his partner, Brigitte Morel. He even returned to the stage with a well-received one-man show ("Le Pont du milieu") and published his autobiography ("Farid Chopel - Et Je Danse Encore"). But the consequences of all those years of excess quickly caught up with him: the actor died on April 20, 2008, four weeks after his diagnosis, during his hospitalization at Cochin Hospital, shortly after the release of Khaled Ghorbal's moving film, "Un Si Beau Voyage," his last film. Farid Chopel is buried in the Bezons cemetery, Anémones section, division A3.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Water War
The tribulations of an engineer and an archaeologist who search for a lost city in the desert of the United Arab Emirates.
L'Addition
For having wanted to defend a young girl accused of theft, a comedian finds himself in prison. Embarked in spite of himself in an escape attempt, he is condemned by a particularly incompetent court which follows without thinking the pleadings of an overzealous public prosecutor! Once incarcerated, the poor comedian has to deal with the harassment of one of the guards, a kind of dangerous sociopath frustrated with life.
My Best Friend's Girl
The charming Pascal, owner of a clothing store in Courchevel, and the chubby and scruffy Micky, disc jockey in a nearby club, are best of friends. Pascal accumulates women, much to the chagrin of Micky, who is consoled of his failures by listening to his friend talk about his successes. Viviane arises, ravishing and icy, but she's seasonal. Pascal, sincerely in love, seduces her and then leaves. This is a dire situation for Micky: Pascal is far away and the beauty is so kind to him. Complications arise once Pascal returns.
Jane B. by Agnès V.
The interests, obsessions, and fantasies of two singular artists converge in this inspired collaboration between Agnès Varda and her longtime friend the actor Jane Birkin. Made over the course of a year and motivated by Birkin’s fortieth birthday—a milestone she admits to some anxiety over—Jane B. by Agnès V. contrasts the private, reflective Birkin with Birkin the icon.
The Flesh
A piano player meets and falls in love with a beautiful and voluptuous woman who, by some strange procedure, leaves the man unable to move but with a permanent priapism. After some time he becomes sick of it and she relieves his paralysis. Eventually she gets bored and decides to leave, but he can't take it because he loves her…
Follow My Gaze
A long parade of actors and actresses pop up in an unconnected series of skits, vignettes, and sight gags in this comedy anthology by Jean Curtelin. Among the sketches performed is one with Jean Carmet playing a man from the sticks woefully burdened with the challenge of getting through a dog food commercial on less than one tank of intelligible French. Another skit shows a silent duel between an airport custodian and an automatic door, while another with the renowned Michel Galabru sets up a strange teacher-student exchange.
Irena and the Shadows
Costa, a projectionist in a porno cinema, plunges into a dark story of abduction, following a phone call that was not intended for him. Is Mome Pralier dead? Has the ransom been paid? Who killed Baumgartner? What's the doc up to in his clinic? AND SURTOUT - who is Irena? - and how far will she take Costa?
All Mixed Up
After the death of her little boy, Anita wants to take her own life.
A Vampire in Paradise
Is Nosfer Arbi a vampire? Or is he just a very emaciated, very strange and possibly quite lonely young man from an Arabic country with an obsession with death? On the other hand, why is the previously cheery Parisian teenager Nathalie Belfond throwing fits and speaking in Arabic? Her strange behavior began with the appearance of a caped and cadaverous man outside her window. Mr. & Mrs. Belfond have their hands full trying to sort this mess out, in this extremely unusual and award-winning comedy which puts a new wrinkle on the vampire mythos.
Wild Animals
Berg and Bela are married stunt drivers, but one night Bela dies in an accident. Jaded and reclusive, Berg becomes a nighttime security guard where he befriends a young woman, Mimi, who works nights too. Soon a shadowy figure from Bela's past comes into Berg and Mimi's lives. Berg is forced to protect Mimi and seems responsible for a murder, but the man from Bela's past who caused her so much pain won't stop until he sees Berg suffer as much as Bela did.
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