Acting
In a time of war and disease, a young officer gallantly tries to help a young woman find her husband.
A playwright of note, Darius developed a drinking problem after his first major hit, and has taken time out from writing his follow-up to go to a clinic and dry out. After his release, Darius finds his producer has hired a leading lady for his next show, booked the theater and advertised the starting date -- all without Darius writing so much as a word of this new play. Darius desperately tries to come up with ideas, but nothing comes to mind, with an inflexible deadline staring him in the face. One day, Darius kills a neighbor's cat by accident; terribly depressed, he swallows some sedatives and falls asleep at his computer -- only to awake with the beginning of his play glowing on the screen. Darius is now convinced he must kill in order to create, and starts murdering an ever-expanding variety of creatures in order to satisfy his now bloodthirsty muse.
It's mid 19th century, north of France. The story of a coal miner's town. They are exploited by the mine's owner. One day the decide to go on strike, and then the authorities repress them.
Helene, a pill-addicted anesthesiologist, is mourning the death of her boyfriend when, through a car accident she causes, she chances to meet the lethargic Gilles, a young man who lives for free at his mother's hotel. Gilles pursues Helene romantically, and she eventually softens up. Gilles, however, is also devoted to Bernard, a petty crook who revels in mugging gay men. All three struggle with relationships that seem to be going nowhere.
Once upon a time there lived in the same village two men bearing the very same name. One of them chanced to possess four horses, the other had only one horse, so, by way of distinguishing them from each other, the proprietor of four horses was called "Great Claus," and he who owned but one horse was known as "Little Claus"...
France, 1975. Jean, an exiled Spanish Communist, is a successful screenwriter who, after a tragic event, struggles with his political commitment, his love for his country, under the boot of General Franco, whose death he and his comrades have waited for years, and his complicated relationship with his son. (A sequel to “The War Is Over,” 1966.)
In 1668, in the Cotentin region, witchcraft was still widely practiced. To get rid of an overly strict priest, a gathering of heretics took advantage of the night of Saint Martin to organize a sabbath. A young boy found himself involved in this black mass against his will. The religious authorities decided to investigate and punish the miscreants...
Camille, a mercurial César-winning actress, has seen better times. Estranged from her husband, she's with her children only every other weekend. It's her weekend, but her agent has booked her to MC a Rotary club dinner in Vichy. She takes them with her, and when her husband learns this, he demands to pick them up at once. She bolts in a rented car to the seaside, trying to improve her relations with the children, especially the precocious and distant Vincent. He loves astronomy. A rare meteor shower is due in a few days, so she suggests they go to a plateau in Spain hoping to see it. He agrees, but the relationship remains difficult, and her husband is on their trail.
Thia and Murelli, who live from car stunt shows, make ends meet by carrying out small burglaries. When Murelli's daughter, whom he has tried to keep away from his business falls in love with a young thug, her father feels he must help the couple by including the young man in a heist. Their scheme misfires and forces the group to set up a jailbreak, with unfortunate results.
Vincent and Olivier have an intense, rocky relationship: Vincent evades tenderness, just as he does desire, forcing the couple to hunt for a third partner to participate in their sexual games. Olivier has a background in the theater. He believes in, but is preoccupied by their relationship; he wants to free Vincent from the ghosts haunting him. But Vincent is locked into the past. His father, a pilot, was killed in a plane accident. Vincent’s job is a strange, uncommon one that plunges him deep into contemplation from which no one can make him budge: he deciphers plane disaster recordings. Vincent’s unconscious repression is so powerful that he hasn’t even recognized the link between his father’s death and his work. It will take the stormy encounter with Olivier for Vincent to obtain his ‘black box.’ Indeed, the two young men come to life through their connection with each other, a connection which shatters the framework of typical love stories.
This Civil War anthology adapts three Ambrose Bierce stories "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," "Chickamauga" and "The Mockingbird."
