Madame de La Pommeraye (Cécile de France) is a young widow who has retired to her country estate. Her libertine friend, Marquis des Arcis (Édouard Baer), visits her every once in a while, regaling her with stories about his exploits. They eventually have an affair. But after two years, she notices his interest drifting to his work. She tests him by telling him their feelings for each other have faded. Though rather taken aback, he agrees with her and they part ways seemingly amicably, but her feelings have been hurt and she plots her revenge.
Madame finds out about an unfortunate woman, Madame de Joncquières (Natalia Dontcheva), an illegitimate child of a nobleman who herself got hoodwinked by a Duke, bore his child and is now working in a house of ill repute with her pretty daughter, Mademoiselle de Joncquières (Alice Isaaz). Madame de La Pommeraye hires them to pose as very religious mother and daughter and introduces them to the Marquis who immediately falls in love with Mademoiselle. Madame de La Pommeraye however, would not let the Marquis get his prey that easily, dangling it as much as she could until he succumbs to the condition she has been shooting for so she could exact her revenge.
What happens next would be beyond anything Madame de La Pommeraye could imagine. But it shows that one should be honest at all times and not use people and toy with their emotions.
I think if Madame de La Pommeraye were honest with the Marquis, they might not have broken up. The Marquis seems to be sincerely looking for a loving relationship but maybe the ladies he consorts with are like Madame de La Pommeraye who are clingy, expecting their men to be attentive to them at all times. His reputation of getting easily bored with women precedes him though, so his women also get insecure. This is where honesty might have served Madame de La Pommeraye better, instead of tricking him into agreeing to a loss of feelings as she falsely confessed. It makes one wonder whether that's how his affairs ended, with his attentiveness ebbing as what happens in any relationship, though it does not mean the end of love, and him spending more time with work as every man does after the honeymoon period, an insecure woman testing his feelings by conjecturing they have lost their feelings and him agreeing to the woman because he does not want to force her to stay in a relationship she does not care for anymore. Ugh, why can't people be honest?
Among the things I love about this drama is the cinematography. Madame de La Pommeraye's estate, especially where the chairs were placed overlooking the lake, is idyllic. It makes one wonder how people who live in such places could be anything but happy.
Madame finds out about an unfortunate woman, Madame de Joncquières (Natalia Dontcheva), an illegitimate child of a nobleman who herself got hoodwinked by a Duke, bore his child and is now working in a house of ill repute with her pretty daughter, Mademoiselle de Joncquières (Alice Isaaz). Madame de La Pommeraye hires them to pose as very religious mother and daughter and introduces them to the Marquis who immediately falls in love with Mademoiselle. Madame de La Pommeraye however, would not let the Marquis get his prey that easily, dangling it as much as she could until he succumbs to the condition she has been shooting for so she could exact her revenge.
What happens next would be beyond anything Madame de La Pommeraye could imagine. But it shows that one should be honest at all times and not use people and toy with their emotions.
I think if Madame de La Pommeraye were honest with the Marquis, they might not have broken up. The Marquis seems to be sincerely looking for a loving relationship but maybe the ladies he consorts with are like Madame de La Pommeraye who are clingy, expecting their men to be attentive to them at all times. His reputation of getting easily bored with women precedes him though, so his women also get insecure. This is where honesty might have served Madame de La Pommeraye better, instead of tricking him into agreeing to a loss of feelings as she falsely confessed. It makes one wonder whether that's how his affairs ended, with his attentiveness ebbing as what happens in any relationship, though it does not mean the end of love, and him spending more time with work as every man does after the honeymoon period, an insecure woman testing his feelings by conjecturing they have lost their feelings and him agreeing to the woman because he does not want to force her to stay in a relationship she does not care for anymore. Ugh, why can't people be honest?
Among the things I love about this drama is the cinematography. Madame de La Pommeraye's estate, especially where the chairs were placed overlooking the lake, is idyllic. It makes one wonder how people who live in such places could be anything but happy.