Passion simple

It began as a night of passion in Porto, where Hélène met the mysterious Alexandre at a party. But then everything changed. Back in Paris, the professor of literature and single mother regularly sees the married man, who works in the city for the Russian embassy. The usually rational Hélène increasingly finds herself counting the minutes until her next short but intense meeting with Alexandre. Every book she picks up seems to be about him. Every picture she looks at bears his resemblance. Hélène’s secret affair gradually develops into an obsession, and her frenzy of love makes her a danger – both to herself and her son. Director Danielle Arbid’s Passion simple is a sensual drama about an amour fou. Lætitia Dosch masterfully depicts a woman whose desire for physical intensity serves to slowly dissociate her from reality. (Zurich Film Festival)