After a film shoot in Morocco, Jean, a thirty-year-old cameraman, returns to Paris and throws himself into his old excessive ways, despite his HIV infection. Roaring through the night in his sports car he relentlessly pursues quick sex with men on the banks of the Seine, at the same time as loving Laura and being in a relationship with Samy. He abandons himself to his increasingly licentious desires which also engulf Laura and Samy in sleepless nights. All three are exhausting themselves on a feverish and emotional rollercoaster ride, electrified by longing and a raging lust for life, walking the line between passion and destruction. Laura’s unconditional devotion opens up a new reality for Jean: he begins to see the others and finally even himself in a new light and to take them into his heart.
Based on his eponymous novel, Cyril Collard’s debut both surprises and captivates thanks to its panoply of ideas, unusual camera angles and dramatic leaps that flout all sense of narrative order. Not only did Collard compose the music for his work, he also took the leading role. He was one of the first artists in France to publicly declare his HIV-positive status. He died of immunodeficiency at the age of 35, just three days before his work won four Césars under jury president Marcello Mastroianni.