POLA X

Year: 1999
USA: WinStar Cinema
UK: Artificial Eye
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Till Lindemann, Guillaume Depardieu, Christoph Schneider, Yekaterina Golubyova, Delphine Chuillot, Petruta Catana, Mihaella Silaghi, Laurent Lucas, Patachou, Sharunas Bartas, Samuel Dupuy, Miguel Yeco
Director: Leos Carax
Countries: France / Germany / Japan / Switzerland
Language: French (English subtitles)
USA & UK: 134 mins
UK Certificate: 18 for infrequent strong sex and violence
USA Release Date: 8 September 2000 (Limited Release - New York)
UK Release Date: 12 May 2000

Synopsis

Pierre lives with his mother, Marie who he loves very much, in their château in Normandy near the banks of the Seine. They are wealthy and have a lovely carefree life. Every morning, Pierre rides the motorbike that his father left him to the home of his fiancee, the blond and poignant Lucie. They love each other. One night, Pierre's mother tells him that she has set the date for his wedding to Lucie. Pierre immediately sets off to tell Lucie the news. On the way, at the edge of a dark forest, a woman of mournful beauty appears in his headlight¹s beam. She speaks with a strong Eastern European accent. 'Pierre... you are not the only child... I'm your sister, Isabelle.' At first, Pierre doesn't believe her, but he will come to believe her. He wants to save this abandoned sister and right his father's wrong.

Pierre suddenly abandons everything - his mother, his fiancee, the château in Normandy - and takes Isabelle off to Paris. With and through his sister, he discovers the world; it's lies, ambiguities and masquerades. A well-meaning old woman warns him, ''Be careful, one can't resent one's era, without being swiftly punished by it!

Pierre and Isabelle seek refuge in the ghostly outskirts of the city, with a sect. It gets colder and colder. They make love, their eyes wide open. Pierre starts writing a 'great book of Truth'... that, in truth, turns out to be too great for him. He is not ready. And is he free himself of lies, ambiguities, and imposture? The film is based on a novel 'Pierre: or the Ambiguities' written in 1851/1852 by Herman Melville (1819-1891), author of 'Moby Dick'.