A writer’s fantasies
Addressed to Arnaud Desplechin
interpreters Lea Seydoux, Denys Podalydes, Emmanuelle Devos
premiere June 3, 2022
In the opening series, a woman is introduced to the audience. She claims to be 33, a devoted mother of a four-year-old daughter, and yet she finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage while carrying on an affair with a famous American novelist named Philip, who resides with her husband in London. Later, the English woman—whose name remains undisclosed—appears in Philip’s apartment. The space is framed as a workplace. She asks him to close his eyes and recount everything. When she speaks, she asserts that there are only Jews and books about Jews on the table.
The character of Philip is a clear stand-in for Philip Roth, the central figure in a narrative that blends fact and fantasy. The film, drawing from the novel that inspired it, marks a turning point where Roth himself becomes the focal anchor of the plot. The story navigates truth and imagination, revealing that his most intimate relationships are with the English woman, yet it also examines other women who populate the writer’s life. Are these passions genuine loves, or are they ideas that the author jotted down in a notebook later found by his wife? Desplechin remains faithful to Roth, an audacious choice that underlines a commitment to authenticity. The director’s devotion to the written word and to collaborating with artists who ensure the language stays lively rather than flowery or merely visual results in a film that probes the obsessions and anxieties of both creator and creation. This cinematic exploration resonates with anyone who has wrestled with how fiction mirrors life and how an author’s craft shapes perception. It stands as a thoughtful meditation on artistic alchemy, memory, and moral risk in storytelling.
As the narrative unfolds, audiences are drawn into a contemplation of how literature and life collide, how a writer’s inner world seeps into his work, and how readers and viewers alike respond to this blend. The film invites viewers to question the line between homage and manipulation, between fascination and vulnerability, and to consider what remains true when imagination sits at the center of a biography. The result is a compelling meditation on the power of words, the responsibility of representation, and the enduring pull of a writer’s imagined lives as they intersect with the lives of real people.
— For context, the work draws on themes associated with the author’s real-life oeuvre and engages with the perennial tension between art and life. Critics note that Desplechin’s approach stays loyal to the source material while expanding the conversation around literary iconography and the ethical dimensions of storytelling. The production is praised for its nuanced performances and its willingness to treat metafiction not as a gimmick but as a serious inquiry into how stories shape identity and memory. The audience is invited to witness a dialogue between a creator and his subjects, with the film acting as a mirror held up to the act of writing itself.