Robert's father
A chance meeting with Aie, a waitress with a strange name, will drive a 50 year old neurotic man, Robert, crazy.
Marcel Proust (1871-1922) is on his deathbed. Looking at photographs brings memories of his childhood, his youth, his lovers, and the way the Great War put an end to a stratum of society. His memories are in no particular order, they move back and forth in time. Marcel at various ages interacts with Odette, with the beautiful Gilberte and her doomed husband, with the pleasure-seeking Baron de Charlus, with Marcel's lover Albertine, and with others; present also in memory are Marcel's beloved mother and grandmother. It seems as if to live is to remember and to capture memories is to create a work of great art. The memories parallel the final volume of Proust's novel.
Monsieur de Blayac
To get royal backing on a needed drainage project, a poor French lord must learn to play the delicate games of wit at court at Versailles.
The Old Man
Stressed and overworked, famous French movie star Michel Blanc is beginning to wear down, physically and mentally, from the pressure and demands of fame. Already in a fragile state of mind, strange events start to transpire all around him, and he gradually loses his grip. Taking the advice of a psychiatrist, Blanc retreats to the countryside with his friend Carole Bouquet, but Blanc still has not managed to escape all of his problems.
The Academician
Famed swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He has never expressed his love for her as he his large nose undermines his self-confidence. Then he finds a way to express his love to her, indirectly.
Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his young cousin, Roxane, but does not dare to confess his love to her. It must be said that Cyrano's prominent nasal appendage attracts him constant mockery, which often forces him to defend his honor with weapons. When Roxane reveals to him that she loves the handsome Christian, a cadet of Gascony like Cyrano, the latter undertakes to take him under his protection. But the young man is cruelly lacking in spirit. It is therefore Cyrano who writes love letters to Roxane in her name, in which he expresses the ardent flame he also feels for his cousin. He even helps Christian to marry his beloved in secret. It is only years later and after having been the victim of an attack that Cyrano, on the verge of death, will finally declare his passion for her.
