Fou d'amour

France, 1959. A man is accused of two murders. Found guilty, he is condemned to death. He is guillotined. But his head begins to tell the story of his life. He was a priest. He loved life, he loved women, he loved God and preached every Sunday in his church. A perfect life! An admired priest, a wonderful lover, his earthly paradise seemed neverending... "In my earlier film, Ici-bas, I placed all the anguish of the world on the shoulders of the priest, imbuing the story with a suffocating gravity: the lively and seductive side to the murderer was largely discarded. This left me with a sense of unfinished business. With FOU D'AMOUR, just as a painter repeats his motif in order to explore new aspects, I reworked my 'canvas': this time, the happiness and pleasure would be voluble and would precede the devastating madness. So the film has a lighter, even humorous tone, before the colours change here and there to create a deteriorating atmosphere and a darkening mood, until it all turns black and tragic." -- Philippe Ramos (Montreal World Film Festival)