1999 MADELEINE

This is the first episode of 10 Ans/10 Films. Laurent Bouhnik sees the series as both a portrait of our times through ten different characters and as a personal diary to record his impression of this anticipated decade. Madeleine is alone and confused, burdened by her work, her daily routine and the people who surround her. Obsessed with cleanliness, weighed down by a body about which she doesn't know what to do, Madeleine sets out to find her soulmate, a husband to whom she can open her heart. Men begin entering her life. Thomas, a draughtsman, confesses his wrenching desire to have children. She cannot have them. She fantasizes about seducing a cute traveling salesman; he leaves without her uttering more than a few sounds. She resolves to become more proactive, and begins to pursue the salesman, following him to a judo class and to his home, where she has an excruciating dinner with his wife and child. Yet, when all seems lost, Bouhnik suggests an opening for hope.