Get lost for 2 ½ hours in this lively saga of a journalist who snubs his profession in favor of nobility only to find journalism the most noble calling of all. Lucien (Benjamin Voisin), a young printer’s apprentice with ink in his veins and delusions of propriety on the brain, fancied himself a poet first, followed by a downgrade to writer, then journalist before finally setting on a career as a well-paid whore, capable of skewing any review for a price. (A controlling publisher played by Gérard Depardieu pays opposing newspapers money to write pro and con reviews of his books to create controversy.) It's a film about people who lived and died by the details and director Xavier Giannoli ardently follows suit: dust bunnies waft playfully in the armholes of lounge chairs while gently cascading candlelight deepens the shadows atop the bookshelf. Add to this a tempestuous romance or two and a brief, but concise history of everything from the advent of billboards and concessions sold at intermission to canned applause and the invention of advertising agencies. Never a sucker for oppressive narration, one could hear Honoré de Balzac admirer Francois Truffaut’s voice in the voiceover narration. And you’ll be relieved to learn that it was Balzac, not the orange ball sack, who first coined the term “fake news.” (2021) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.