In 1917, the First World War is raging. Julien is from Luxemburg, so instead of having to go to war he studies piano in Paris. One day his friend Jacques, also a musician and now a fighter pilot on the front, invites him to spend a few days in his family's empty house in Bray. The housekeeper, a beautiful stoic woman lets Julien in, but his friend is late and he is obliged to wait. In the meantime, he starts reminiscing of the pre-war days spent with his friend and Jacques' girlfriend Odile.
Cinematography
Delvaux's liquid transitions between past and present
Score
Piano motifs that blur diegetic and emotional space
Acting
Karina's unreadable stillness as the housekeeper
Director
André Delvaux
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Delvaux adapted this from a Julien Gracq novella, keeping the author's refusal of dramatic incident.
Made during Belgium's linguistic tensions, the film's dreamlike detachment reads as political avoidance—or critique.
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