Romance…

In a most unlikely place…

Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (Lovers on the Bridge), one of the most exhilarating and infamous films in the history of French cinema, is a highly personal love story and an ode to director Leos Carax’s greatest passions: Paris, cinema and Juliette Binoche.

A young vagrant, Alex (Denis Lavant), is living rough on the city’s oldest bridge, the Pont-Neuf, which is closed for repairs. He shares this location with another vagrant, Hans (Klaus Michael Grüber). One night he finds Michele (Juliette Binoche), a dishevelled young artist sleeping on the bridge. Alex becomes obsessed with Michelle and follows her as she wanders the streets of Paris. Eventually they become lovers finding a modicum of happiness in their bleak world.

After the grimly realistic opening, the story slowly turns into a startlingly memorable magical fantasy, with the famous bridge forming the backdrop for some of the most visually amazing scenes ever filmed, set against the 1989 bicentennial celebrations.

Production of the film was notoriously difficult and expensive, taking three years to complete. The producers even rebuilt the Pont-Neuf and its environs in the south of France. Critically acclaimed for her fearless performance, Juliette Binoche was nominated for a Best Actress Cesar for the third time and won her first European Film Award for Best Actress.