La trilogie III: Après la vie

Agnès has been addicted to morphine for years. Her husband Pascal, a policeman, can get hold of morphine through a connection in the underworld, the dealer Jaquillat. Thanks to Pascal, Agnès is able to lead a fairly normal life and works as a teacher. In his work, Pascal shadows the husband of Cécile, a colleague of Agnès. A notorious activist has also escaped, Bruno Le Roux, and he is hiding somewhere in Grenoble. Pascal tries to get him, but Jaquillat is also looking for Le Roux. Jaquillat blackmails Pascal: Pascal has to kill Le Roux, otherwise he won’t get any more morphine.
This third part of the trilogy is the most intimate: a melodrama with plenty of close-ups, as if the world beyond Pascal and Agnès is not relevant. Some key scenes also return in the other films – scenes that are filmed from different angles and in different styles – and this provides a much more subtle image of the actions and motives of the protagonists.
Belvaux’s original project took years of preparation, and the shooting (the three films were shot simultaneously) took almost six months. Belvaux describes the films as ‘an attempt to show the complexities of life, without losing the simple pleasure of cinema’. This attempt is an undoubted success. Each film is a joy to watch, professionally made and also playfully evokes questions about film making.