Featuring an all-star cast – including Benjamin Voisin, Cécile de France, Vincent Lacoste, Xavier Dolan, and Gérard Depardieu – Xavier Giannoli’s adaptation of Balzac’s classic novel premiered as an Official Selection of the Venice International Film Festival, and went on to win seven César Awards (French Academy Awards): Best Film, Best Supporting Actor (Lacoste), Most Promising Actor (Voisin), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume and Production Design.

Set in early 19th century France, LOST ILLUSIONS recounts the tale of a young idealist who learns that anything can be bought and sold. Handsome poet Lucien (Voisin) is poor, but highly ambitious. Failing to make a name for himself in his provincial hometown, he naively follows his married patroness (Cécile de France) to the glamorous beau monde of Paris. Entering a society far more dangerous than he had realised, where venomous denizens of the salons conspire to keep him out of their ranks, Lucien abandons his principles and finds work at a low-brow newspaper. His scathing critiques soon cause a sensation and arouse the interest of admirers and publishers, but in a society where profit and status rule, what is really left for Lucien?

A sumptuous period drama of epic proportion, Giannoli’s LOST ILLUSIONS offers both a lavish cinematic experience and an eerily prescient fable bracingly attuned to the anxieties of the modern media age.
www.lostillusions.com.au

The legendary Depardieu brings to life one of the most beloved characters from 20th century crime fiction – the titular Inspector Jules Maigret – in this exquisite new crime drama from multi award-winning director Patrice Leconte (Monsieur Hire, The Girl On The Bridge), based on Georges Simenon’s internationally best-selling novels.

Set in Paris, 1953, the body of a beautiful young woman is discovered at Place Ventimille, dressed in an elegant evening gown. There is nothing to identify her, and no witnesses. Pensive and world-weary Inspector Jules Maigret (Depardieu) endeavours to piece together her story, and in doing so uncovers details about her past and character. In his enquiries, he encounters Betty (Jade Labeste), a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to the victim, but who also reminds him of one even closer to his own life.

Simenon (and Leconte’s) formidable protagonist – a French counterpart to Agatha Christie’s Poirot and P.D. James’ Dalgiesh – has been brought to the screen before, but Depardieu leaves an indelible stamp on the character, bringing tenderness and dignity to a man prepared to listen before he speaks, and to stand up for those without a voice.

www.palacefilms.com.au/maigret