Children of the Century
Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel star in Diane Kurys’ (Entre Nous) tempestuous love story between two of the 19th century’s most headstrong Romanticists, writer George Sand and poet Alfred de Musset. Iconoclastic, proto-feminist writer Sand has usually been depicted onscreen in the context of her decade-long romance with Chopin, but Kurys concentrates upon her earlier more intense two year liaison with de Musset, whose fictionalized version of their affair was entitled "Confessions of a Child of the Century". Their relationship – which takes place in the upper realms of French society in the early 1830s against a backdrop pf great artistic tumult (Hugo, Delacroix, Berlioz, Balzac, Merimee et al.) and social upheaval – became the celebrity coupling of their day. Lavish period production design including the grand costuming of Christian Lacroix (working in film for the first time) and the lush cinematography by Vilko Filac (best known for his work with Emir Kusturica) all contribute to this classic piece of "heritage cinema." Children of the Century was an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.