And Now My Love

Set in a park in pre-World War I France, a man operating a Lumière camera charms a woman into turning the crank. She bears his child while he is enlisted in the army. He is killed in action, and his posthumous medals are awarded to his family.

After the war, a general awards the medals and marries a chorus girl. He later discovers her infidelity. In a violent turn, the general murders her.

Rachel Stern, daughter of the general's murdered wife, and David Goldman, son of the Lumière operator, meet as Jewish survivors of concentration camps. They share their family photos and histories, finding solace in each other. Their connection deepens into a union that leads to the birth of a daughter named Sarah.

Sarah is born, and the film shifts to color as she grows up. She bears a striking resemblance to her mother, who dies in childbirth. David becomes a successful footwear manufacturer, cementing the family’s fortune.

On her sixteenth birthday, Sarah loses her virginity to Gilbert Bécaud, the French pop star; he rejects her. She responds with a suicide attempt. The episode underscores the fragility of legacy and love in her life.

In a bid to ease her pain, her father takes Sarah on a world tour, recalling vacations he had with Rachel. The journey broadens Sarah’s horizons and helps her move past the heartbreak. It marks a turning point in her sense of family history.

Simon Duroc, a petty criminal, is jailed for two years. In prison, he works as a cook and later as the jail’s photographer, gaining a knack for capturing images. This prison tenure foreshadows his later career in surveillance, photography, and film.

After release, Simon and a partner make money by taking surreptitious photos and filming infidelity. They later venture into pornographic films, drawing the wrath of censorship authorities. The shift from covert imagery to mainstream production sets their life on a new track.

They move into offices in a block that also houses David’s footwear business. The proximity draws their worlds together, intertwining the fates of the two families.

Their first film under the new banner receives poor critical and commercial reception. They are forced back to making commercials while continuing to chase larger dreams.

Sarah tries to become pregnant by a stranger but fails. She writes about her upbringing, then marries an Italian briefly and divorces after a week. Her father dies of a heart attack, leaving Sarah enormously wealthy.

Now wealthy, she offers workers generous conditions, but distrust among staff leads to a strike. She dates the leading union activist, yet they cannot reconcile his ideals with her wealth. This tension reveals the distance between power and personal connection.

Sarah maintains a long-term relationship with a dependable but uninspiring admirer. Meanwhile, Simon earns money from advertising and begins an autobiographical film that wins an award. Both stories unfold in parallel, highlighting different paths to recognition.

Sarah decides to raise money for Israel in the United States, honoring a promise to her father. At the same time, Simon heads to New York for inspiration. The film ends with the two men seated on a plane, agreeing to meet in New York.