La confusion des sentiments

Anna is married to her teacher, Professor. Their marriage is a mutual agreement with no great feelings. Marriage gives both a status they need; love must be found elsewhere. Roland is a young man, beautiful body, transparent skin, clear eyes, a keen mind for wisdom. He falls in love with Professor, a man older than Roland's father. Affection grows to be mutual. Roland is eager to give all he has to give, he even tries to be a part of the family. When he finds out that there is no family, his focus is Professor and his happiness. This elder man is also intellectually highly affected by the love Roland gives. They have beautiful conversations, the likes that we seldom hear in movies anymore (not even in books). They speak of virtue, honor, love, affection, and integrity, which are all the cornerstones of their relationship. But they don't speak of flesh. Professor nearly faints down when he sees Roland's bare breast since the beauty of youth has its own reasons and own power. He listens behind Roland's door as if to get a non-physical touch of that beauty. The story is really intense and when the separation of those two is evident, not only Roland is in tears; anyone who remembers will shed tears for his or her own dreams that did not come true.

The eternal triangle, but a bit different, since the professor is so much older than young Roland. Anna married the professor for status; she knew he wasn't interested in sex, at least not with women. What he seems to need is a bright but wayward youth to gaze longingly at, one who will take dictation for a book on Shakespeare that probably isn't very good. What does Roland need? To worship the professor as a surrogate father, and to make love to Anna, even as he bears her bitter wisecracks directed at his professor-worship.

It's not a great film by any means; direction is pedestrian, sets poor, color mediocre. But Michel Piccoli makes a wonderful fuddy-duddy gay professor, and Gila von Weitershausen is stunning to look at--every young man's idea of the sexy older woman.