Sentimental Education (1970)
- Drama
Directed by: David Maloney
Written by: Gustave Flaubert, Hugh Leonard
Dramatization of Gustave Flaubert's novel about the life and romances of Frédéric Moreau at the time of the 1848 French Revolution and the founding of the Second French Empire.
- Original title
- Sentimental Education
- Storyline
- An adaptation of the novel "Sentimental Education" (1869) by Gustave Flaubert, which was loosely based on the author's own love life. The French youth Frédéric Moreau arrives in Paris with a letter of recommendation intended to get him hired by a local banker. After his would-be-employer rejects him, Frédéric lives idly in Paris for a few months. He is infatuated with Marie (Angèle) Arnoux, the lovely wife of a local businessman. After receiving a small inheritance from an uncle, Frédéric loans money to the cash-strapped businessman Jacques Arnoux, but he is in financial trouble when the man is unable to repay him. Frédéric establishes a rather platonic relationship with Marie, while also romancing Jacques' mistress Rosanette (Rose-Annette) Bron. Frédéric gets engaged to Louise Roque, the daughter of his longtime neighbor. During the French Revolution of 1848, Frédéric gains a decent reputation for his political writings. Eager to improve his social standing, Frédéric starts an affair with Mrs. Dambreuse, the young wife of an aging banker and politician. When the nearly bankrupt Jacques Arnoux prepares to flee the country with his wife, Frédéric tries to gather enough money to pay their debts. He fails to do so on time, and Marie flees with her husband. The widowed Mrs. Dambreause breaks up with Frédéric and eventually marries someone else, while the neglected Louise has also found another husband for herself and (soon) another lover. Several years after the women stepped out of his life, Frédéric narrates his story to an old friend.
- Companies
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
- Release dates
- GB August 9, 1970