LOST ILLUSIONS
| 2022 – 150′ – Drama, Epic, Romance
Written by Xavier Giannoli, Jacques Fieschi
Based on Honore de Balzac’s novel
Directed by Xavier Giannoli
Starring Benjamin Voisin, Cécile de France, Vincent Lacoste, Xavier Dolan, Jeanne Balibar, Gérard Depardieu, André Marcon, Jean-Francois Stévenin, Louis-Do de Lecquesaing
Official Selection Venice International Film Festival. North American Premiere at The American French Film Festival 2021. Winner of 7 Cesar Awards 2022 including Best Film.
In French with English subtitles.
A Music Box Film release.|
Based on the voluminous three-volume Lost Illusions section of Balzac’s masterpiece, The Human Comedy, Xavier Giannoli‘s lavish and exhilarating adaptation is brimming with energy, humor, heartbreak, fake news and a thoroughly delightful cast. Lucien, a naïve young poet from the provinces, falls in love with his patroness and follows her to Paris, only to be plunged into the venomous world of aristocratic societal codes and a cesspool of corrupt journalistic standards. Here, it seems, everything can be bought and sold — art, politics, reputations, ethics, ideals… and especially literary reviews! Leaping from the frying pan into the fire, our ambitious young hero leads us into a delicious whirlwind of treachery and rivalry, defeat and redemption. Set in 1821 and far from a stuffy period picture, Lost Illusions is a wildly entertaining ride with many a parallel to our own modern times.