"Like any story of a rural youngster trying to make good in a major city, where Lucien aspires to pursue his vocation and earns his footing, the ups-and-downs of navigating a path through a classist, venal society (here a 19th-century Paris) are full of revelations, compromises and traps. Lucien's rapport with Mme. De Bargeton sours when his low-born status gets him shunned by the snooty silk-stocking crowd (among which, Balibar's imperious Marquise d'Espard is the class act, frictionlessly conveying veiled contempt and darting dismissive glances with such indelible finesse), his integrity disintegrates in the course of earning his name through yellow journalism, his genuine love with a plebeian stage actress Coralie (a voluptuous, plump-faced Dewaels) is doomed by malady and profligacy."
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