Romantic drama prequel to Ma Vie Sexuelle, starring Mathieu Amalric, Quentin Dolmaire and Lou Roy-Lecollinet. While delayed by a passport mix-up at the airport, middle-aged Paul is prompted to reflect on the adventures of his youth and in particular his love affair with the enigmatic Esther.
Director Arnaud Desplechin and actor Mathieu Amalric reunite in this flashbacking prequel to Ma Vie Sexuelle (1996). Detained at customs, anthropologist Paul Dédalus (Amalric) explains to a French government agent how he came to lose his passport during a teenage trip to Minsk in the late-80s. But while this juvenile act of political subversion has moderately inconvenient consequences, the young Dedalus (Quentin Dolmaire) was more indelibly marked by his first brush with romance, with his sister's vivacious 16-year-old classmate, Esther (Lou Roy-Lecollinet). Punctuating the action with such nouvelle vague gambits as iris shots, split screens and speeches to camera, Desplechin seeks to re-create the agonies and exhilaration of youth. He also pays nostalgic tribute to the lost art of letter writing after Paul and Esther are parted when he leaves provincial Roubaix to study in Paris. The performances are splendid, with Roy-Lecollinet exuding vivacity and vulnerability. Yet Desplechin and co-writer Julie Peyr struggle to find significance amid the freewheeling frolics and heartache.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Paul Dédalus | Quentin Dolmaire |
| Esther | Lou Roy-Lecollinet |
| Paul Dédalus as an adult | Mathieu Amalric |
| Irina | Dinara Drukarova |
| Jeanne Dédalus, mother | Cécile Garcia-Fogel |
| Rose | Françoise Lebrun |
| Mme Sidorov | Irina Vavilova |
| Abel Dédalus, father | Olivier Rabourdin |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Arnaud Desplechin |
