This is a story within a story. A journalist comes to a reclusive writer to gather details about the scandalous affair she described in an autobiographical book. His questioning awakens old passions and stirs new emotions, and the story unfolds. The story is of a beautiful young woman and the lover who marks her for life with a passion that is as mystical and consuming as the secret rites of Isis in the frescoes on the walls of an ancient villa in Pompeii. Like a fire that makes the words stand out on a yellowing page before the whole is consumed, this love brings out old childhood memories and a childish, fervent belief in truth.
This film bears watching over and over again, if only because Fanny Ardant is incandescent here.
This film bears watching over and over again, if only because Fanny Ardant is incandescent here.
