In the library of Arnaud Desplechin
The odds are that “In the Library of” Arnaud Desplechin there is at least one novel by Philip Roth. Starting with the one adapted in his most recent film, Tromperie, shot last September under cover of the lockdown, and recently completed after post-production.
As for the rest of his literary pantheon, you will have to wait until Tuesday, April 13 at 7pm to find out the ten books that, day-to-day or always, have accompanied this leader of a post-New Wave that has been roaming French cinema since the 1990s.
A leading light of French cinema, Arnaud Desplechin has, among others films, directed nine features including My Sex Life… or How I Got Into an Argument (1996), Kings & Queens (2004), A Christmas Tale (2008), Jimmy P. (2013), My Golden Days (2015), Ismael’s Ghosts (2017) and the beautiful Oh Mercy!, a bright spot in 2020.
In most of his films, we encounter Mathieu Amalric, now as Dedalus, now as Ismael, a fictional avatar with which the filmmaker has for years been building a relationship reminiscent of that between François Truffaut and Jean-Pierre Léaud through the character Antoine Doisnel.