Robert Cantarella

In this whimsical fable, Resnais deftly interweaves three story lines: the creation of an early-20th-century utopia; romantic high jinks at a school conference; and a fantasy sparked by F/X pioneer Georges Méliès.

A novelist attends the trial of a woman accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter by abandoning her to the rising tide on a beach in northern France. But as the trial continues, her own family history, doubts, and fears about motherhood are steadily dislodged as the life story of the accused is gradually revealed.

A brother and sister pair of orphans live together in a suburban high-rise block. Each of them forges their own path. The brother spends most of his time helping his neighbors, while his sister is passionate about the theater. One of them lives closed off the from world in his public housing building, the other escapes from it by playing imaginary characters. But then one day, the brother refuses that his sister continue her theater studies. They then lock themselves in a painful fraternal battle, from which neither of them will emerge unscathed.

Jérémie, a young man reaching a breaking point on all fronts, decides to leave behind Paris and return to Limosin, to the home of his intrusive mother.

A portrait of a woman, composed of 17 moments from her life.