A poor but ambitious young man arrives in Paris and settles down in the boarding house run by Madame Vauquer. He soon gets to know the guests: Victorine Taillefer, a young lady her rich father refuses to recognize; Horace Bianchon, a medical student; Monsieur Vautrin, a mysterious and disconcerting man; Goriot, a rich merchant who spent all his fortune for his daughters, Delphine and Anastasie, to make a rich marriage. Eugène becomes friends with Goriot but while the former, thanks to his cousin Madame de Beauséant, is introduced in high society, Goriot, both exploited and scoffed at by his daughters, continues his descent into hell.
Acting
Aznavour's Goriot breaks your heart with every wheeze.
Production
Madame Vauquer's boarding house reeks of cabbage and desperation.

Director
Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Charles Aznavour, a legendary singer, reportedly took the role because his own father had sacrificed everything for his career.
This TV adaptation was part of France's massive 2000s 'Comédie Humaine' project—basically Balzac cinematic universe before Marvel made it cringe.