Film Synopsis
Paris, 1830. Octave is an idealistic young man who has yet to become
disenchanted with the treachery of others. The revelation, when it
comes, has a devastating effect on him. After being deceived by his
mistress, he realises he can never again trust another woman, so he allows
himself to be lured into a life of excessive debauchery by his friend Desgenais.
The life of the carefree libertine fails to satisfy Octave's needs, so he
retreats to the countryside to nurse his oppressive melancholy in quieter
surroundings. He convinces himself that what he is suffering from is
the sickness of the age.
O tempora, o mores.
His father's death gives Octave an opportunity to reflect on his life, but
as he does so he falls under the bewitching influence of Brigitte, a widow
who is ten years his senior. At once he is overcome by a new passion,
and he is as sure as he can be that Brigitte is the woman he was destined
to take as his wife. But as he succumbs to this latest romantic infatuation
Octave is assailed by fresh doubts over whether he can trust any woman.
He has been cheated before, so why shouldn't he be cheated a second time?
His fears that he is heading for another disappointment are confirmed by
a seemingly innocent little lie...
© James Travers
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Film Credits
- Director: Sylvie Verheyde
- Script: Alfred de Musset (novel),
Sylvie Verheyde
- Cinematographer: Nicolas Gaurin
- Cast: Charlotte Gainsbourg (Brigitte),
Pete Doherty (Octave),
August Diehl (Desgenais), Lily Cole (Elise),
Volker Bruch (Henri Smith), Guillaume Gallienne (Mercanson), Karole Rocher (Marco),
Rhian Rees (Madame Levasseur),
Joséphine de La Baume (Desgenais's Mistress), Rebecca James (Voice Over),
Effi Rabsilber (Cantatrice),
Julia Schmelzle (Maîtresse),
Kathrin Anna Stahl (Chanteuse),
Diana Stewart (Brigitte's aunt),
Christelle Lahaye (Brigitte's Maidservant)
- Country: France / Germany / UK
- Language: English
- Support: Color
- Runtime: 125 min
- Aka: Confession of a Child of the Century