Chateaubriand (2010)

Chateaubriand is in Saint-Malo to decide what his future burial place will be. He looks back on his past: his youth in Combourg under the thumb of an authoritarian man, his encounter with Paris during the Revolution, and his journey to America. Later, the Army of the Princes is followed by an interminable exile in London. Back in France under the Consulate, basking in literary success, he falls out with Bonaparte over the execution of the Duke of Enghien. A loyal supporter of the Bourbons, he serves them as best he can, vainly trying to reconcile monarchy and liberties. His meeting with Juliette Récamier, his muse, his sylph, definitively marks his romantic trajectory. All these episodes are amply illustrated in the character’s thoughts by numerous quotations from the author’s various works.