Les destinées sentimentales

directed by olivier assayas (irma vep, cold water) and based on a novel by jacques chardonne, les destinées is a sweeping epic spanning three decades and a world war. starring emmanuelle béart (mission: impossible, manon of the spring) and charles berling (ridicule, l'ennui) the film follows the life and loves of jean barnery, a provincial gentleman and reluctant heir to his family's porcelain empire.

jean is introduced in 1900 as the minister to the small protestant community barbazac. his marriage is in shambles, and he suspects his wife nathalie (isabelle hupper) of infidelity. soon after they split, jean meets and falls in love with pauline, a young girl from his congregation. the two marry and move to switzerland, where they live until jean becomes obligated to take over the family business. upon their return to france, however, jean and pauline find their love tested by the pressures of an increasingly modern world.