Vanity Fair + Balzac [DVD]

VANITY LA , 1998 (Vanity Fair)

Based on Thackeray's dazzling satire of 19th-century English society, a “society of overeating and drinking, love and abandonment, laughter and crying, dancing, smoking, he fights, he deceives and he snoops”, the series presents the story of Rebecca Sharp, daughter of an alcoholic master painter and an opera singer, determined to reach the highest classes of that society. PERFORMERS: Natasha Little, Frances Grey, David Ross, Philip Glenister, Michele Dotrice, Janine Duvitski, Anton Lesser

DIRECTOR: Marc Munden

BALZAC, 1999 (Balzac: A Life of Passion)

Biography of the French writer Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850).

The plot focuses on his relationship with women. Despite their rude manners, foreign to any sophistication, and their unattractive physical appearance, Balzac exerted an irresistible fascination on them. However, only two women were really important in his life: his mother Charlotte, a cold, manipulative and authoritarian woman, who never gave him the love he needed. And Eva Hanska, a beautiful and charming woman whom Balzac followed through Switzerland, Germany and Russia in a relentless crusade to win her heart.

INTERPRETERS: Gérard Depardieu, Jeanne Moreau, Fanny Ardant, Virna Lisi, Katja Riemann, Gert Voss, Katja Studt

DIRECTOR: Josée Dayan