SCENARIO
BASED ON NOVEL
BY MARGUERITE DURAS
In June 1944, the novelist Marguerite Duras seeks news of her husband, Robert Antelme, a writer and prominent resistance fighter who has just been arrested. She visits the Gestapo offices and meets Pierre Rabier, the French agent who handled her husband’s arrest. Marguerite and Rabier begin a troubled relationship.
ADAPTATION
For Emmanuel Finkiel, the desire to adapt La Douleur by Duras stems from a personal connection. The woman waiting for her husband’s return from the concentration camps echoed the figure of his father, who was someone who was always waiting—even after being certain that his parents and brother had perished in Auschwitz. For those without a body to mourn, the absence was ever-present. The presence of absence—that is what La Douleur conveys: facing this presence, retreating into oneself, an inner journey…
THE TEAM
A FILM STARRING MÉLANIE THIERRY, BENOÎT MAGIMEL, BENJAMIN BIOLAY…
Director: Emmanuel Finkiel
Production Manager: Tatiana Bouchain
Casting Director: Antoinette Boulat
Director of Photography: Alexis Kavyrchine
Costume Designer: Sergio Ballo
Set Designer: Pascal Le Guellec
Editor: David Vranken
AWARD
The film has received global acclaim, including a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2019 Oscars. It has also been nominated at several prestigious ceremonies, such as the 2019 César Awards, the Lumières de la Presse Étrangère 2019, and the Cabourg Film Festival, where it won two awards: the Swann d’Or for Best Actress and the Prix Gonzague.