Balzac: A Life of Passion (TV 1999)
"Balzac" (original title)

Honoré de Balzac was a man who lived to write. His life was a hard, permanent struggle, from his cold relationship with his mother who was unable to give him the love he needed, to his ... See full summary »

Director:

Josée Dayan

Writer:

Didier Decoin

Stars:

Gérard Depardieu, Jeanne Moreau, Fanny Ardant

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Depardieu	...	Honoré de Balzac
Jeanne Moreau	...	Charlotte-Laure
Fanny Ardant	...	Eve Hanska
Virna Lisi	...	Madame de Berny
Katja Riemann	...	Laure d'Abrantès
Claude Rich	...	Maitre Plissoud
Gert Voss	...	Victor Hugo
Sergio Rubini	...	Eugene Sue
François Marthouret	...	Docteur Nacquart
Marianne Denicourt	...	Adèle Hugo
Gottfried John	...	Count Hanska
Pascal Vannson	...	Paradis
Hervé Briaux	...	Charles Sedillot
Didier Lesour	...	Surveillant Bossu
Enguerran Demeulenaere	...	Balzac Enfant

Storyline

Honoré de Balzac was a man who lived to write. His life was a hard, permanent struggle, from his cold relationship with his mother who was unable to give him the love he needed, to his unsuccessful attempts to make money out of printing and publishing books. Balzac never gives up, however - even though his dissolute lifestyle keeps landing him in trouble with his creditors. To finally gain acclaim for his works and to earn enough money to survive, Balzac works like a man possessed, day and night, to the brink of exhaustion, drinking liter upon liter of coffee to keep himself awake. The passionate author also tends to go to excess in affairs of the heart - he has several woman friends at the same time, all of them very different from each other. They include the kind, caring and elderly Madame de Berny, and the egotistical, ambitious Laure d'Abrantès, who introduces Balzac to the salons of upper-class society. Balzac's heart belong to just one person alone, however: Eve Hanska, a ...

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Plot Keywords:

money | death | love | author | creditor | 

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Taglines:

He burned with ambition. He lived for passion.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and brief partial nudity

Details

Country:

France Italy Germany

Language:

French

Release Date:

23 October 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Balzac: A Life of Passion

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

TF1, GMT Productions, Taurus Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

240 min 180 min (2 parts) 240 min 60 min (4 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Very good literary biography

Usually made-for-TV biographies of artists are pretty silly: there's just too much concern to get all the major works mentioned without taking care also to bring the person to life. I did enjoy Drach's Maupassant, with a terrific Claude Brasseur, and now I've seen Josee Dayan's Balzac and like it a lot.

The actors tear into their parts with such gusto. Depardieu is really feeling his way through the part, and his lover in life as well as in this film, Fanny Ardant, does a great job as Eve Hanska. Virna Lisi as his first lover Mme de Berny was very touching; she knew she couldn't hold on to him forever, given that she was two decades older than Balzac. Jeanne Moreau has got a froggy old woman's voice now, and she uses it to great effect. The lack of any great love between mother and son comes out in their scenes.