''The Adversary'' (french: L'Adversaire) is a 2002 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Nicole Garcia Nicole Garcia (born 22 April 1946) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter. Her film '' Charlie Says'' was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Her film ''Going Away'' was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 20 ...

, starring Daniel Auteuil and

Géraldine Pailhas Géraldine Pailhas (born 8 January 1971) is a French people, French actress. She had her first international success in 1995 as ''Doña Anna'', the unfulfilled love of Johnny Depp in the comedy ''Don Juan DeMarco''. She is married to actor Christ ...

Plot

The film is based on the 2000 book of the same name by

Emmanuel Carrère Emmanuel Carrère (born 9 December 1957) is a French author, screenwriter and film director. Life Family Carrère was born into a wealthy family in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. His father, Louis Carrère d'Encausse, is a retired insuranc ...

which is inspired by the real-life story of

Jean-Claude Romand Jean-Claude Romand (born 11 February 1954) is a French spree killer and impostor who pretended to be a medical doctor for 18 years before killing his wife, children and parents in January 1993 when he was about to be exposed. Heavy suspicions a ...

. ''L'Adversaires protagonist Jean-Marc Faure (Auteuil) pursues an imaginary career as a doctor of medicine in a plot more closely based on Romand's life and Carrère's book than was

Laurent Cantet Laurent Cantet (; born 11 April 1961) is a French director, cinematographer and screenwriter. His film ''Entre les murs'' (''The Class (2008 film), The Class'') won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Biography Laurent Cantet was bo ...

's 2001 film ''

L'Emploi du Temps ''Time Out'' (french: link=no, L'Emploi du temps or 'Le Vendu') is a 2001 French drama film directed by Laurent Cantet and starring Aurélien Recoing and Karin Viard. The film is loosely based on the life story of Jean-Claude Romand (though wi ...

''.

Cast

* Daniel Auteuil as Jean-Marc Faure *

as Christine Faure *

François Cluzet François Cluzet (born 21 September 1955) is a French film and theatre actor. Cluzet has collaborated with many important European and American directors, including Claude Chabrol, Bertrand Tavernier, Claire Denis, Agnieszka Holland, Robert Altm ...

as Luc *

Emmanuelle Devos Emmanuelle Devos (born 10 May 1964) is a French actress. She is the daughter of actress Marie Henriau. She won the César Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in ''Sur mes lèvres'', directed by Jacques Audiard. She has also been ...

as Marianne * Alice Fauvet as Alice * Martin Jobert as Vincent *

Michel Cassagne Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), S ...

as Jean-Marc's father * Joséphine Derenne as Jean-Marc's mother *

Anne Loiret Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

as Cécile *

Olivier Cruveiller Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery *Olivier, Louisiana, a rural popul ...

as Jean-Jacques *

Nadine Alari Nadine Alari (born Bernadette Nicole Frédérique Bovarie; 23 February 1927 – 24 November 2016) was a French film and television actress. Selected filmography * ''Jericho'' (1946) * ''Tuesday's Guest'' (1950) * '' Great Man'' (1951) * ''T ...

as Christine's mother *

Nicolas Abraham Nicolas Abraham (; hu, Ábrahám Miklós; 23 May 1919 – 18 December 1975) was a Hungarian-born French psychoanalyst best known for his work with Mária Török. The pair took a distinctive approach to psychoanalytic theory, holding that th ...

as Xavier *

Bernard Fresson Bernard Fresson (27 May 1931 – 20 October 2002) was a French actor who primarily worked in film. Born in Reims, France, to a French baker, Fresson attended the Lycée privé Sainte-Geneviève, majoring in law. He studied in Tania Balachova's ...

as Christine's father *

François Berléand François Berléand (; born 22 April 1952) is a French actor. He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in ''Le Bureau'', the French version of ''The Office'', produced by Canal+. He also appeared in the 2002 fil ...

as Rémi *

Sibylle Blanc ''Sibylle Blanc'' (born January 3, 1974''L'illustre, Lausanne, N. 21, p. 74, May 25, 2005. in Aubonne, Vaud) is a French-speaking Swiss actress, writer and director who is actively involved in theatrical, film, television and radio productions in ...

as waitress *

Anne Benoît Anne Benoît is a French actress. She has appeared in more than 60 film and television productions since 1981. Career Benoît was trained at the Conservatoire de Versailles, under the direction of Marcelle Tassencourt. She later attended the Ta ...

Accolades

The film was nominated for a

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

2002 Cannes Film Festival The 55th Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May 2002. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film '' The Pianist'' directed by Roman Polanski. The festival opened with ''Hollywood Ending'', directe ...

. At the César Awards 2003 Auteuil was nominated as

Best actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

as Best supporting actor and

as Best supporting actress.

References

External links

* * 2002 films 2000s French-language films 2002 drama films Films directed by Nicole Garcia Films scored by Angelo Badalamenti French drama films Films based on non-fiction books Drama films based on actual events Films about lying Films set in 1975 Films set in 1989 Films set in 1990 Films set in 1991 Films set in 1992 Films set in 1993 2000s French films Films based on works by Emmanuel Carrère {{2000s-France-film-stub