The
illegitimate son of a construction magnate, Martin grows up in France’s
southwest, but at 20 he flees his troubled past to take refuge in
the anonymity of Paris. With nowhere to live he moves in with his
half-brother Benjamin and Benjamin’s roommate, Alice. Martin
is instantly smitten by Alice but she rejects his advances. Unexpectedly
he lands himself a modeling job with a major designer and finds himself
catapulted into wealth and success. He moves into his own apartment
but remains obsessed with Alice; she finally surrenders. They live
happily together until Alice becomes pregnant and Martin suffers a
nervous breakdown. Sullen and uncommunicative, desperate but enervated,
he finally reveals the cause of his crippling anxiety: his guilt at
precipitating the death of his truculent father. Admitted to a sanatorium,
he undergoes treatment for depression, while Alice travels to his
home town to find answers. In a bid for expiation, Martin gives himself
over to the law: “I want to be judged,” he declares. This
dense, novelistic film portrays the constant looming presence of an
unresolved past. Téchiné refuses to simplify issues
or allow his characters easy escape, attempting instead to capture
life’s messiness, contingencies and rare moments of clarity and
joy.
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| PHOTO Courtesy
of USA Films |
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