The Children of the Century (1999)
"Les enfants du siècle" (original title)

The only thing more outrageous than French novelist George Sand's torrid love affair with the decadent author Alfred de Musset and her affinity for wearing men's clothing, was the content ... See full summary »

Director:

Diane Kurys

Writers:

Murray Head, Diane Kurys,

Stars:

Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel, Stefano Dionisi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Juliette Binoche	...	George Sand
Benoît Magimel	...	Alfred de Musset
Stefano Dionisi	...	Pietro Pagello
Robin Renucci	...	François Buloz
Karin Viard	...	Marie Dorval
Isabelle Carré	...	Aimée d'Alton
Patrick Chesnais	...	Gustave Planche
Arnaud Giovaninetti	...	Alfred Tattet
Denis Podalydès	...	Sainte-Beuve
Olivier Foubert	...	Paul de Musset
Marie-France Mignal	...	Mme. de Musset
Michel Robin	...	Larive
Ludivine Sagnier	...	Hermine de Musset
Victoire Thivisol	...	Solange (as Victoire)
Julien Léal	...	Maurice

Storyline

The only thing more outrageous than French novelist George Sand's torrid love affair with the decadent author Alfred de Musset and her affinity for wearing men's clothing, was the content of her writing. Though Sand (otherwise known as the Baroness Dudevant) smoked cigars and cross-dressed, it was the boldness of her writing on issues such as the abstinence of marriage and women's frigidity that most contributed to the scandalous reputation she earned in French literary circles. When she met Alfred de Musset, the most gifted poet of his generation, the two quickly became a public cause celebrity while their work would go on to become some of the finest examples of 19th century romanticism.

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Plot Keywords:

french | alfred de musset | love | george sand | poet | 

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Taglines:

Love, betrayal, passion and pride.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

22 September 1999 (France)

Also Known As:

The Children of the Century

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$8,044 (USA) (13 September 2002)

Gross:

$54,912 (USA) (27 December 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alexandre Films, Canal+, Conseil Général de l'Indre

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min 105 min (theatrical)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

George Sand's estate loaned the production some of Sand's jewelry, including a sapphire ring, which Juliette Binoche wears throughout the film.

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Quotes

Alfred de Musset: We were born into a world in ruins, with no glory or wars to die for. Despair was our only religion.

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Connections

Version of La note bleue (1991)

User Reviews

A Delacroix Painting

If Romanticism, as a movement, can be defined as an "infinite longing" which combines passion and erotic tension with death, despair, and the cycles of nature, then Kurys film portrayal is aptly named and her protagonists--Alfred de Musset and Georges Sand--are indeed children of their century.

The key to understanding the point of this film is to think of it as a painting. It does not give you an insider's view of the relationship between these two literary giants; it does not break down their psychology; and you do not even understand why you, as an audience member, should like either of them. Yet their obsessive love was a monument for the first major artistic movement of the 19th century. Kurys paints them as Delacroix would--in all their lurid color, capturing the details of high emotion without explaining a thing. As painting on film, Les Enfants succeeds as wildly as any Romantic dreamscape and, thus, captures the mood of that era and the sentiment which spawned it more perfectly than 1,000 words on the subject.