Comment je me suis disputé... (ma vie sexuelle) (1996)

Paul Dédalus, a Parisian in his thirties and a graduate of the École normale supérieure, is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Nanterre. He can neither finish his dissertation nor bring himself to leave Esther, his partner of ten years, while living with his cousin Bob. Paul spends time with a group of friends, including Nathan, whom he admires and is closest to. A few years earlier, he had run into Nathan by chance at a swimming pool, where Nathan was with his partner Sylvia. That meeting gave rise to an unspoken passion between Paul and Sylvia, though neither of them chose to take things further; instead, both tried to avoid each other. Paul and Sylvia nevertheless end up sharing stolen moments. Alongside his romantic troubles, one question preoccupies Paul: why did he fall out with Frédéric Rabier, his new colleague, recently appointed to the faculty at Nanterre and an old friend from the École normale supérieure? Unable to talk to each other, they let the tension between them grow. Rabier, convinced of his own importance, ignores Paul and seems to despise him. On New Year's Eve, Paul and his friends celebrate at Jean-Jacques's home with his partner, Valérie. Paul and Bob compare notes about women, and Paul asks Bob not to break up with Patricia, whom Bob can no longer stand, until Paul himself can leave Esther. Esther has an important exam in May, and Paul does not want to unsettle her beforehand. So the cousins make a pact and continue confiding their feelings in each other. In May, Esther earns her diploma and can start translator training; Paul leaves her that very day. He then grows closer to Valérie, who both frightens and attracts him. A confidante and a manipulator, Valérie succeeds in seducing Paul, despite warnings from Bob and Nathan. Nathan, however, does not suspect that Paul's intermittent affair with Sylvia is still going on. Paul eventually submits his dissertation and resigns from his position at the university. After a long period of suffering, Esther manages to grieve for Paul and look to the future. Sylvia gives Paul one final lesson in life.