(Les destinées sentimentales). An epic costume drama spanning the first three decades of the twentieth century, Les destinées offered Assayas a rare chance to expand his films' scope (and budget) while retaining his usual intricate focus on emotional nuances, relationships, and the gulf between idealism and maturity. It is 1900: Jean (Charles Berling) is a Protestant minister from a prominent family, who suspects his wife (Isabelle Huppert) of adultery. The arrival of a beautiful young woman (Emmanuelle Béart) sets into motion circumstances that will change all their lives. The dawn of World War I, the economic upheaval of early-twentieth-century France, and the opening up of religious and cultural mores: Les destinées moves through these events and more, all the while finding space for Assayas's true interests: the bittersweet fragility of love, and those moments when human relationships wither or blossom. Adapted from the novel by Jacques Chardonne, Les destinées is "intoxicatingly beautiful. . . . An impressive epic" (New York Times).

—Jason Sanders

• Written by Jacques Fieschi, Assayas, from the novel by Jacques Chardonne. Photographed by Eric Gautier. With Emmanuelle Béart, Charles Berling, Isabelle Huppert, Olivier Perrier. (180 mins, In French with English subtitles, Color, 35mm, From Wellspring Media)