Movies / TV

Xavier Giannoli’s truly sumptuous adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s novel Lost Illusions is prescient, modern, and yet thoroughly grounded in its time. Giannoli, who wrote the screenplay,   shared adaptation credit with Jacques Fieschi and Yves Stavrides. This film recently swept the 2022 César Awards, but more on that later. A classic Balzac story, it’s not a spoiler to say that it won’t end well. This is the post Napoleonic restoration period in France where the monarchy has been reestablished…