Hélène, a pill-popping anaesthetist mourning the death of her boyfriend, almost runs down Gilles one evening. Gilles pursues her romantically, then backs away, deciding she could never love someone of lower class and limited prospects. But she does fall for him, and gradually her sadness eases.

André Téchiné’s psychological and deeply emotional cinema shines in this romantic melodrama, marking his first in many collaborations with Catherine Deneuve. A torturous love story set against the background of the resort town of Biarritz, in which class, grief and jealousy make a stirring alliance.