Le grand Meaulnes (1967)

The film closely follows the novel, which is set in France in the late nineteenth century. The title character, a young man named Augustin Meaulnes, one day happens upon a château where a celebration is being held in anticipation of the owner’s son’s wedding. Enchanted by the festive world, Meaulnes meets a girl named Yvonne at the château and falls in love with her. Suddenly, it turns out that there will be no wedding, because the bride has left the groom. The guests go their separate ways, and later Meaulnes is unable to find the château again. He tells his schoolmate, François Seurel, what happened to him. Soon, a troupe of traveling performers stops in their town, and among them Augustin recognizes Franz—the very groom whose wedding never took place. Meaulnes and François promise Franz that they will come to his aid if he needs it, and Franz leaves. Several years pass. Meaulnes sets off for Paris in search of Yvonne, but does not find her there and meets another girl. Meanwhile, François, who stayed in his home region and trained to be a schoolteacher, happens to discover where Meaulnes had been: it turns out that Yvonne and her father still live in their house, although they were forced to sell part of their estate. François goes to fetch Meaulnes and brings him to a picnic, where he meets Yvonne again. Augustin’s happiness is clouded by the fact that the girl he met in Paris, and nearly married, turns out to be Franz’s runaway bride. Meaulnes now feels it is his duty to find both her and Franz so that they can be together again. As a result, the day after his wedding, Meaulnes leaves Yvonne. Several months pass. Yvonne gives birth to a daughter, but dies after the delivery. Her godfather, François, who teaches at a nearby school, raises the girl. One day, he sees that Franz has returned to his cottage with his fiancée. Meaulnes also returns, having fulfilled his promise to Franz. He takes his daughter and leaves.