Vous ne désirez que moi

The complexity of the relationship between writer and filmmaker Marguerite Duras and her forty-year younger gay life partner Yann Andréa can be seen in an interview that journalist Michèle Manceaux conducted with him in 1982. It was only released in 2016 – and then adapted word for word by Claire Simon in this film.  In the attic of the house they’ve been living in together for the last two years, the barely 30-year-old Yann (Swann Arlaud) speaks of fascination and tenderness, dominance and submission, homosexual desire and the dark depths of the soul. His interlocutor (Emmanuelle Devos) records these statements of a monstrous, unconditional love. This intensive chamber drama is augmented by watercolor drawings and archive materials – excerpts and music from Duras’ films, she herself at the piano or while shooting. (bik)