Balzac and the market of reputations

Before Truffaut, Godard, Rohmer, and the Nouvelle Vague launched their revolution in the late 1950s, French cinema was dominated by films like this one, Lost Illusions (Illusions Perdues): well-dressed and well-intentioned literary adaptations of a classic style, the so-called "quality cinema." A whiff of mothballs emanates from Xavier Giannoli's film, which brings Honoré de Balzac's novel to the screen with the pomp and circumstance due to a true national treasure.  

This doesn't mean there isn't pleasure in enjoying the story of the young provincial poet Lucien de Rubempré (or is it simply Lucien Chardon?) in his attempt to succeed in early 19th-century Paris, during the Restoration of the monarchy. Giannoli masterfully directs an engaging spectacle, with a cast of great stars (Cécile de France, Gérard Depardieu, Xavier Dolan, etc.) and an exuberant production.  

Almost everything in the film refers to classicism and adheres to a formula of period blockbusters. Only one shot seems to come from a more contemporary film, namely the close-up of Lucien's penis associated with the money he receives from Madame de Bargeton (Cécile de France). But there is at least one aspect that resonates with the present day. The adaptation emphasizes the portrait that Balzac painted of the relationships between the press and society at that time. The term "fake news" didn't exist, but that's what the writer was addressing in the background of the novel.  

Driven by the ambition to regain a noble title, Lucien (Benjamin Voisin) uses his extramarital affair with Madame de Bargeton to get closer to Parisian high society. He finds success as a journalist for the liberal opposition, falls in love with a boulevard actress, and, in a move of opportunism, tries to cross the line to the side of the monarchists. Through Lucien's adventures, Balzac depicts the press and the limelight as a marketplace of reputations, where whoever paid the most won the best reviews and the loudest applause.  

The film portrays this environment with great verve, while tracing the disillusioned journey of the central characters, whose origins and cultural background condemned them to remain on the fringes of the "salons." The lack of social mobility allowed for nothing but illusions.