Lost Illusions

The French film Lost Illusions was nominated for fifteen Cesar Awards and won seven, including Best Picture.  I was really intrigued because it beat Annette, my favorite movie last year, so I decided to see it last night at the Broadway.  It is nearly three hours long, is adapted from a nineteenth century novel by Honore de Balzac, and is in French with subtitles but I was absolutely riveted for the entire runtime.  Lucien de Rubempre (Benjamin Voisin) is a young and idealistic poet living in Angouleme.  His patroness and lover Marie de Bargeton (Cecile de France) convinces him to come to Paris with her but he is completely out of his depth in society and, when he makes a faux pas at the opera, her cousin Marquise d'Espard (Jeanne Balibar) and friend Baron de Chatelet (Andre Marcon) convince her to sever all ties with him or face being shunned by society.  Alone and penniless, Lucien attempts to find a publisher for his poetry but meets an editor named Etienne Louseau (Vincent Lacoste) who convinces him to abandon his artistic ambitions and become a journalist for a corrupt newspaper where favorable (or unfavorable) content is sold to the highest bidder.  Soon Lucien is famous for his scurrilous anti-royalist articles condemning the members of society who cast him aside but he regrets the loss of his integrity when he meets the writer Nathan d'Anastazio (Xavier Dolan).  I was fascinated by this story because there are so many parallels to today's media, especially when so-called "influencers" shape public opinion for compensation.  I also really enjoyed the commentary on criticism vs. art.  The images on the screen are beautiful with gorgeous costumes, sumptuous production design, and dynamic camera work that puts the audience in the middle of the streets of Paris, back stage at the theatre, and in the chaos of a newspaper office.  The performances of the three lead actors are outstanding.  Voisin brilliantly portrays both Lucien's wide-eyed innocence and his disillusionment, Lacoste allows a hint of danger to show beneath Etienne's charm, and Dolan (sigh) conveys a kind of sexual tension whenever Nathan acts as a foil to Lucien.  The camera lingers on all three of their faces just a bit longer than necessary and this is captivating.  I loved this film (although I still prefer Annette) and I highly recommend it.