Rastignac is an important character of Honoré de Balzac's masterpiece "la comédie humaine" (the human comedy ?). He stars as a provincial and poor student, full of dreams, ambitious, who leaves his small city to go to Paris and to become "somebody". His friend Rumbempré and another friend, Elsa, start the same, each one will lose a lot of his illusions during their ascension. The character of Elsa has been created for the movie, as many others. She gets pregnant of one of her two friends (even she doesn't know). Rastignac becomes a radio animator, Elsa works for an attorney, Rumbempré goes into politics, working for the secretary of environement (ecology), Diane Langeais, wonderfuly played by Zabou. He is also manipulated by Vautrin, a machiavelic man. Love, lost illusions, freedom, death, that is a plot, isn't it ? This modern adaptation of a classic book is really good, the original book was actually very good and all what has been added here is good too.
