SYNOPSIS
The fifth volume of Marcel Proust’s legendary novel REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST is the source for veteran French feminist filmmaker Chantal Akerman’s remarkable film THE CAPTIVE. Following a theme common in her past films–the impossibility of true knowledge of the other, Akerman crafts a severe and stilted chamber drama out of Proust’s evocative and poetic text. Simon (Stansilas Merhar) is a wealthy and sensitive French man living in a posh, if cloistered, life in Paris. Ariane (Sylvie Testud) is Simon’s lover and constant companion, as well as the subject of his irritated obsessions. Not satisfied with merely loving Ariane, Simon aches to have absolute knowledge of her– her past, her present, her thoughts, and her deeds. When having her accompanied at every moment does not satisfy him, Simon begins to follow her everywhere she goes, questioning acquaintances, and constructing elaborate fictions around her every action. Suspecting her of a secret life filled with love for other women and a true happiness to which he is not privileged, Simon attempts to penetrate Ariane’s aloof and opaque facade, only to bring their impossible love to a breaking point. Akerman’s tight and constrained style, assisted by stylized acting, creates a complex and compelling portrait of the tragedy inherent in love.
