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In the beginning there were two provincials. They share a steadfast friendship and the ambition to conquer Paris. But the resemblance stops there; for each, the arms of ambition are wholly different. Rastignac wants to get the most out of life; he couldn't care less about the rules of the game. He uses every opportunity that arises to snake his way upwards. Rubempré is an idealist and wants to serve his country and the values he believes in. Recently graduated from administrative school, he gets his first job in a government ministry where he is implicated in a sordid contaminated water scandal. Then there is Elsa, an ambitious young lawyer, with whom both are in love. Rastignac, or the ambition of the strong; Rubempré, or the ambition of the weak; Elsa, or female ambition. Overlapping destinies which in our contemporary world update the romantic scope of Balzac's "Comédie humaine".

France - 2000 - 4 x 90 mn - 16 mm - Colour

Réalisation Alain Tasma Scénario Ève de Castro, Natalie Carter d'après "La Comédie humaine" de Honoré de Balzac Image Roger Dorieux Son Michel Kharat Décors Patrick Valverde Montage Marie-Sophie Dubus, Martine Barraqué Musique Christophe Boutin Interprétation Jocelyn Quivrin, Alika Delsol, Flannan Obé, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Zabou Breitman, Michel Aumont, Sophie Broustal

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