19th century France. Lucien is a young unknown poet living in the provincial town of Angoulême. He has great hopes and wants to forge his destiny. He works in the family printing house during the day, writes poems and makes love to an aristocratic patroness of the arts, Louise, in the evenings. He leaves his native province to try his luck in Paris on the arm of his benefactor. Quickly left to fend for himself in this fabulous town, the young man will discover what goes on behind the scenes in this world devoted to the law of profit and pretence.
“Balzac’s novel reveals the matrix of the modern world, that moment when an entire civilization was about to surrender to the rule of profit. I wanted to prolong that movement thanks to cinema, taking any liberties with the original text that would allow for expressing its spirit.” (Xavier Giannoli)
Xavier Giannoli
Born 1972 in Neuilly-sur Seine, France. Giannoli's L’interview won the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film at the Festival de Cannes. Since 2003 he has made eight feature films, most of which screened at prestigious international festivals in Cannes, Venice and San Sebastian.