Sumptuous costume adaptation from the oft filmed novel by Honoré de Balzac. Felix Grandet (Olivier Gourmet) reigns supreme in his modest house in Saumur, where his wife and daughter Eugénie lead a distraction-free existence. Extremely avaricious, he does not take a favourable view of the beautiful parties who rush to ask for his daughter's hand.
Nothing should damage the colossal fortune he hides from everyone. The sudden visit of Grandet’s nephew, an idle and bankrupt Parisian dandy, awakens the tender soul of Eugénie who instantly falls in love with him. But Grandet is more than ever ready to sacrifice everything on the altar of money.
Gourmet excels as a miserly capitalist who enslaves his freedom-seeking daughter in this adaptation of an uncompromising novel whose true essence is deftly teased out by Marc Dugain.
NB Another superb Balzac adaptation ‘Lost Illusion’s is being shown on Mon 22 Aug 18:00 & Tue 23 Aug 12:30.