The rays and shadows

Around 1930, French journalist Jean Luchaire and German Otto Abetz work toward bringing their two countries closer together.

But war breaks out: Abetz becomes the Reich's ambassador to Paris, and their prewar friendship gradually gives way to collaboration. Under his protection, Luchaire becomes a powerful press magnate and drags down with him his daughter Corinne, a young actress destined for a brilliant career.

After Lost Illusions, Xavier Giannoli delivers a sweeping historical epic about the spiral of compromise, blindness and fascination with power. Jean Dujardin (The Artist) plays a chillingly cold Luchaire opposite August Diehl as Abetz and the magnetic Nastya Golubeva Carax.