Two Pianos
Arnaud Desplechin’s high-pitched drama follows a tempestuous pianist reconnecting with his mentor Elena (Charlotte Rampling, at her diva best) for one final duet before her retirement.
Description
Arnaud Desplechin returns to SFFILM with his high-pitched drama set in the world of concert pianists. Tempestuous Matthias (François Civil) returns to Lyon from a tour in Japan, and reconnects with his mentor Elena (Charlotte Rampling, at her diva best), who plans to retire and hopes they can duet at what will be her final performance. Complicating matters is Matthias’s old flame Claude who is now married to his former best friend and whose child bears more than a passing resemblance to Matthias. Desplechin is a master at tracing fraught personal dynamics, frequently finding sly humor amid the emotional fireworks, and his script (written with Kamen Velkovsky) is buoyed by an expert cast. As Matthias wavers between romantic and professional opportunities offered by Claude and Elena, there is a constant tension over how he will respond to the desires and demands placed on him by these two strong-willed women. —Rod Armstrong
Biographies
Two Pianos is French director Arnaud Desplechin’s 18th feature film. Among his previous works are The Sentinel (1992); the Festival Official Selections My Sex Life…Or How I Got Into an Argument (1996); In the Company of Men (Festival 2004); Kings and Queens (Festival 2005); My Golden Days (2015), for which he won a Best Director César Award; Oh Mercy (2019); Deception (2021); Brother and Sister (2022), and Filmlovers! (2024). He also directed a French adaptation of Angels in America (2021) for television.
