MFDB

Storyline

Michel Durand ought to be a happy man. He is a good-looking French man and respected psycho-analyst in Paris; his practice is flourishing and his pri vate life couldn’t be better – thanks to his attractive girlfriend, Hélène. And yet there’s something not quite right in Durand’s life.More and more often, during sessions with his patients,Michel finds himself drifting into a strange other-worldly state. But then, a new patient arrives who changes everything. Olga Kubler is a fascinating case. Married to a wealthy man named Max, she is rich – and beautiful. Olga is a kleptomaniac – and a devilishly clever one at that. During their sessions together, she reveals herself to be suffering from peculiar disturbances of her consciousness and dark obsessions which govern both her life and that of her husband.Durand finds himself falling under her spell – which excites him as much as it horrifies him. He seeks refuge in dreams in which Olga’s bizarre life and his own merge. Things develop to such an extent that Durand even provides a false alibi for one of her series of robberies. Only too late does he realise that Olga was bluffing all along and that she has cleverly trapped him in a dark conspiracy. At least this is what Olga maliciously reveals to him during a consultation. Again Durand’s reaction is to seek refuge in another dream; this time, his consciousness blurs into an erotic fantasy that gets increasingly violent. When Durand comes to his senses again Olga is dead. Did he murder her? He can’t remember a thing. Panicking, Durand hides the body in his practice, where it is almost discovered by his curious patients. He finds himself beset from all sides: Hélène is anxious,Max Kubler begins to harass him and the police start asking unpleasant questions. And then there’s an ominouslooking tramp named Erostrate, who keeps turning up with suspicious regularity. Everyone seems to have got it in for Durand, who is driven closer and closer towards insanity. And wherever he goes, he is pursued by the dead Olga. There’s nothing for it, he must get rid of the corpse...

Festivals & Academy awards and others

Berlin International Film Festival 2001
Panorama