Inspiration

The Art of Love (L'art d'aimer) is composed of several chapters following several Parisian couples. Isabelle (Julie Depardieu) has not had sex in a year. She declines an offer from her friend Zoé (Pascale Arbillot) to "borrow" her husband and instead winds up impersonating Amélie (Judith Godrèche), another friend who cannot bring herself to sleep with her buddy, Boris (Laurent Stocker). The singleton Achille (François Cluzet) thinks his prayers have been answered when his svelte new neighbor (Frédérique Bel) knocks on his door wearing a negligee and suggests they have an affair. In another chapter, a middle-aged couple's marriage is threatened when wife Emmanuelle (Ariane Ascaride) finds herself lusting after every attractive man she lays eyes upon and a pair of young lovers (Elodie Navarre and Gaspard Ulliel) discover the pangs of jealousy.

Florence and Vincent Leroy are successful in business, marriage, and children. Today they want to succeed in getting a divorce. But when they both receive the promotion they have always dreamed of, their life together turns into a nightmare.

Muriel is beautiful, free-spirited and bed-ridden since a horrific accident. Leo is a drunk middle-aged ex-boxer. Desperate for work and unqualified, he interviews for Muriel, who hires him to cook and care for her against her better judgment. Initially out of his depth, Leo slowly wins Muriel's trust. As Muriel teaches him to read, he forces her to confront the joys beyond her window.

Provence, the days before World War I. Rustic well-digger Pascal Amoretti, a widower, encourages fellow laborer Félipe Rambert to date his virgin eldest daughter Patricia, the only of his five who attended a Paris finishing school. Getting drunk, Felipe unwittingly helps her date wealthy general store owner Mazel's handsome, womanizing son, dashing air force pilot Jacques, who gives her a motorbike ride home, make love and get her pregnant. Shortly after, both men are called for military service. On leave, Felipe finds out the truth and still proposes. Jacques is reported missing in action, his family refuses to recognize the baby, so Pascal sends Patricia with it to his outcast sister.

Eleanor, thirties, has just lost her father. He bequeathed his house in Brittany in the Cotes d'Armor. She is a photographer, has had some success but business no longer work as before. It is imperative to sell the house. She goes there with Samuel, her former companion which she left some time ago, because she does not feel to go alone and she has not returned since the death of her father. But she is playing with fire - because she knows that their relationship did not exactly appeased, even if it was for some adventures and Samuel lives with Laura. Claire Andrieux, the real estate agent, was busy organizing visits during the two days Samuel and Eleanor will stay in the house. It's a funny weekend that these three are about to spend.A surprising weekend full of surprises, emotions, tensions, memories and shouting matches in melancholy and absurd moments that leave the couple necessarily changed.

Lambert is an addict. A sex addict. It once cost him his pilot job, but he's now trying to work it out through a support group and a new career as couples therapist. Judith has no problem. She's a nymphomaniac who's delighted to sleep with everyone she likes and particularly the men she works with. Until it gets her fired. So now she's crashing at her grumpy old uncle's home, until she gets back on her feet. When Judith applies for a job at Lambert's practice, they are instantly attracted to each other. But the more she tries to seduce him, the more he wants to build a healthy relationship with her - one not based on sex. It's an uphill battle every day, to keep her from jumping his bones.

The story of a sibship of four, two men and two women, at a key moment in their lives.

Clément, a young Parisian philosophy professor, is temporarily transferred to Arras, a small provincial town, for a year. Far from Paris and its nightlife, he doesn't quite know what to do with his free time. Then he meets Jennifer, a pretty hairdresser who quickly becomes his mistress. Linked by a mutual attraction, the couple seem to be immediately threatened by a host of socio-cultural differences: Clement is a rather snobbish and mysterious loner, obsessed with Kant and Proust, while Jennifer is a sweet and outgoing young mother who loves karaoke evenings with her girlfriends, tabloids and popular novels. Clément lives for the moment; Jennifer plans projects for them as a couple. Obviously, each one envisions the future of their relationship very differently. Free love and free hearts, they could live a beautiful romance together, but is it enough to bridge the gaping social and cultural divide between them?

The retired dentist Caroline attends a class for computer users. Although she is married, she falls in love with her significantly younger lecturer. It turns out he used to visit her surgery because primarily in order to enjoy her view. Her husband finds out about her affair with this admirer.

Marco leads a double life. As Marco, he is a construction worker but rich ladies craving sexual excitation know him as Patrick. As Marco he is married to Fanny, an ambitious young woman who has opened her own hairdressing salon in partnership with her friend Rosalie. Marco/Patrick is not a male prostitute at heart: in fact he does the job in order to support his wife's business. Which doesn't prevent Judith, an elegant tele-shopping presenter who buys his services, from falling in love with him. But when Fanny learns what Marco does and with whom, she first gets mad but soon starts interfering in their affair.

Camille (Audrey Tautou) works evenings as an office cleaning woman, and makes graceful drawings in her free time, living in the attic of a Parisian apartment block. Philibert (Laurent Stocker) is a young, aristocratic history buff living - temporarily - in an apartment lower down, part of the estate of his late grandmother. He has let out part of it to up-and-coming cook Franck (Guillaume Canet), a gruff young loner and womaniser with a genuine love for his frail grandmother, Paulette (Francoise Bertin). When Camille falls ill, Philibert insists she stay with the two of them so he can look after her. And even though she and Franck clash, the trio manage to live together and learn from each other.

A tax inspector, his new bride and her sister become entwined in a love triangle.

JC is a prison guard. He is a man without a story, hiding behind rules. He only has one fantasy: Tango dancing. One night, in dance class, JC meets Alice. They dance together. The next day he sees her again in the prison visiting room. First visiting one man, then another. Alice is the wife of two inmates, Fernand and Dominic, whom she follows with her son from prison to prison. The prison rules prohibit the guards from socializing with inmates' family members. For the first time in his life, JC is about to break the rules.

Lea, Adrian, and their little brother Theo, born deaf, go on holiday in Provence with their grandfather, Paul "Oliveron" they never met because of a family quarrel. Unfortunately, it is not the holidays they dreamed, especially after their father announced that he was leaving the house. In less than 24 hours, it is the clash of generations between the teens and their grandfather.

Gary, an unskilled young man, lands a job as a decontamination sub-contractor at a nuclear power plant in the lower valley of the Rhone. Inducted into the workforce by supervisor Gilles and veteran Toni, Gary discovers that radiation contamination is not just a risk factor but an everyday hazard. At the same time, he begins an illicit affair with Karole, the fiancée of Toni.

Laura is still waiting for Prince Charming at the age of 24. So when Sandro appears at a party, exactly like her Prince would in her dreams, she thinks she's found the right one. But then again, when she meets Maxime, Laura starts to wonder if some Princes could be more charming than others? Of course Sandro has problems of his own : his father, Pierre, just bumped into Madam Irma at his father's funeral and this reminded him of the date of his own death which Madame Irma had predicted ages ago. Now Pierre is unable to make any plans, not with his new partner Eleonore, nor with Sandro. And Maxime has his own problems, and so does Eleonore, Marianne, Jacqueline and many others. But don't worry, in the end, they'll all live happily ever after.

When Lola's boyfriend is unfaithful to her on his summer holiday, she dumps him and flirts with his best friend as punishment. But as their class prepares to leave on an excursion to London, the relationship heats up.

Someone I loved (Je L'Aimais) is based on the best-selling novel by Anna Gavalda. It's the story of Pierre (Daniel Auteuil), who takes his daughter-in-law, Chloe (Florence Loiret Caille) and two small granddaughters to the family chalet to stay following a family crisis. Pierre's son, Adrian, has abruptly dumped his wife and children, and Chloe who "never saw it coming" is so emotionally devastated, Pierre thinks it's wise to take her away somewhere quiet for a few days until she stabilizes.