but why?

I think his relationship with is female friend is most intriguing. We enter a conversation part way through when they are chatting about his relationship with Camille. He talks to the librarian it seems. If anyone knows the answer to his feelings for Camille it's her.

I've tried to work out what their conversation must have been about, was he saying he is in love with Camille - surely she wouldn't approve and take part in a conversation where he says he is seeking revenge on his boss/friend. So we must assume he was discussing the fact that he loved Camille and was trying to come to terms with it.

Also - don't forget the scene where he needs a glass of water - was that genuine - or was it for Maxime's benefit? He wasn't so cold and calculating to setup Maxime for heartbreaking was he? Though maybe he was - the whole film is setup by the opening dialogue - the dialogue is placed there for an important reason by the screenwriter. Don't forget - in the opening 5 minutes of a film we discover the protaganist and his problem. This 5 minutes showed only Stephane and Maxime and his dialogue about their cold relationship.

Conclusion - I have none. I just think the 3 moments that reveal something are the opening, the conversation he had with the librarian friend and the strange turn when he needed water. Was he in love with Maxime all along? Was he angry that this woman was not only a marriage breaker but she was ruining his business relationship with Maxime?

Very enjoyable film, but I feel a little empty at the end. I wish I'd knew French - I feel the clues will be in the original dialogue that I feel certain differed from the English.

Stephane DID love Camille. This movie is about Stephane investigating relationships. Throughout the movie he becomes convinced that essentially the relationship that Camille wants will just wind up hurting him. When he is at the coffee shop with Camille while Camille is on a break from recording there is a couple feuding in the back and he tells Camille, "I fear for their future". He is also at a house at one point (I have trouble recalling who the old couple was, I believe it was Camille's old teacher and his wife) and as he drives up he hears them arguing. He eventually sees the old man fall down outside and he leaves. Right after he leaves the old woman comes outside to help the man up and he never gets to see this moment.
Now, to why he did this. If you remember, Camille told Stephane she loved him when he pulled the car over to the side of the road. The reason Stephane pulled the car over was because he almost got in an accident with another, which he only realized at the last second, and then swerved out of the way and pulled over to catch his breath. This near collision is the moment when Stephane realizes if he loves this girl and continues the way he has been going he will run into a relationship collision and everything will go to hell. Then when she says I love you he knows he can't tell her he also loves her.

Thank you to the smartest man I have ever known for explaining this movie to me. I'll have to go back to hear him talk about it again next year.

SPOILER ALERT

Stephane is gay and in love with Maxime not in love with Camille.

Camille is his rival.

See my synopsis off the main page for a lot more details.

Then thank me for ending this mystery in your life.

Camille and Stephane see love differently.

For Camille love is hot, immediate and comes from the subconscious. It should, no, must be obeyed, to the total disregard of the feelings of others (after the recording is done she tells Regine that she knows she is expected to dine with friends but in the most casual manner says no). This is the source of her capacity for performance art (Lachaume - "you sense a true temperament"). She assumes that this view is fundamentally human and normal. She falls deeply for a man, perhaps for the first time in her life, is shocked by the depth of the emotion, and discovers that Stephane is immune to her charms. All she is immediately capable of is turning up the heat.

For Stephane love is loving-kindness. In fact he considers physical love can be very beautiful when written about as intellectual art interpretation but otherwise its importance is overstated (scene in the bookshop). Love is cool, respectful and without limit. Love between two individuals considers the feelings of others and frequently places those feelings above any personal desires. Even though he is not in love with Camille, when he discovers that she feels deeply rejected he compassionately tries very hard to move towards her position.

My extrapolation is that Camille and Maxime will tire of each other. At that point she must make a choice - happiness or career. Stephane is the love of her life and she will be compelled to recognize the fact that a relationship with him on his terms will give her a long and deeply satisfying love, at least until he discovers the love of his life. He thinks that love is his craft, but he may, in his turn, be in for a shock. Let us hope for them both that he discovers this love in their children.

Stephane's feelings toward Maxime are complex. He's resentful of Maxime's lack of interest in his personal life,judgmental of Maxime's treatment of his wife, and envious of Maxime's easy-going nature. At first, Stephane is horrified to listen to Maxime's callous description of dumping his wife for Camille, and I think as an act of malice, Stephane decides to seduce Camille away from Maxime, only to find out she's more than he bargained for.

In the beginning, Camille clearly doesn't understand or accept Stephane, but slowly his attention begins to envelop her, and she finds herself seduced. He, in turn, is attracted to her beauty, her skill, and the moments when he feels her attraction toward him. Unfortunately for Camille, she drives Stephane into retreat mode with her demands and spectacular behavior. Stephane is used to navigating the world with his mind and often feels misunderstood and unappreciated, and his relationship with Camille feeds his insecurities. Had Camille been less rejecting of his attempts to share (no one's like that!, etc), and been a bit more subtle (let's get a drink, instead of "I got a room..."), the relationship would have gotten off the ground. The attraction was certainly there, but so was fear.


It is not enough to trick, your best friend must also go home alone.

This is an astonishing thread, all seven pages of extraordinarily deep thinking and feeling. So fitting for such an extraordinary, astonishing and deeply-thought (and felt) film.

The hints on Stéphane's peculiar behavior are in the scenes which he came to his dad's house and overheard the argument between his dad and his lover(?); then, the scene where his dad talked to him while they were taking a walk in the wood; and, the scene at the end when he talked with Camille at the café.

A good movie with exceptional acting job from all cast members.