Frantz

In 1919, Anna visits Frantz Hoffmeister's grave in Quedlinburg to mourn him. She notices fresh flowers and realizes they came from Adrien, the enigmatic French visitor. The moment hints at a connection between the two men that will unfold.

Adrien goes to the Hoffmeister home and is met with hostility when Hans denounces all French as murderers. He acknowledges his own guilt, admitting that he is a murderer in the eyes of the family. The scene establishes tension between memory, guilt, and the possibility of forgiveness.

Anna invites Adrien to visit the Hoffmeister home and explains that Adrien has been leaving flowers at Frantz's grave. The Hoffmeisters, moved by Anna's insistence and Adrien's quiet sincerity, begin to soften their stance. The meeting marks a fragile opening toward reconciliation.

Adrien explains that he and Frantz were students together in Paris before the war and recounts their last day in the Louvre. The memory softens the initial hostility in the Hoffmeisters. The revelation shifts the narrative from accusation toward shared history.

Anna takes Adrien to places she and Frantz used to visit, including the mountaintop where Frantz proposed. Adrien's presence begins to lift the Hoffmeisters out of despair as they sense Frantz's spirit in him. The scenes of memory deepen the emotional ties between the families.

The Hoffmeisters ask Adrien, a former violinist whose hearing was damaged in the war, to play Frantz's violin. His performance provides a living link to Frantz and brings a moment of peace to the room. The act strengthens Adrien's place within the family despite the complicated past.

Adrien asks Anna to accompany him to the local ball, and she agrees. The appearance of a French man at the ball draws hostile reactions from the locals, especially Kreutz. The social climate highlights the fragility of Anna's growing connection to Adrien.

Adrien finally confesses that he lied about being Frantz's friend and reveals that they met as enemy soldiers on the battlefield. He explains that Frantz was a pacifist and that Adrien killed him in the war, a revelation that shatters the present illusion. He also recounts finding Frantz's last letter on his body and the guilt that drives him to seek forgiveness in Germany.

Heartbroken, Anna tells Adrien that she would tell the Hoffmeisters about his role, but she chooses to let them remain ignorant instead. She wants them to continue believing in a person they have come to love, even if the truth would hurt them. The decision deepens her internal conflict between truth and compassion.

Adrien returns to Paris, and Anna sinks into despair, attempting to drown herself. She stops replying to Adrien’s letters and destroys a letter he had enclosed for the Hoffmeisters confessing his true role. The crisis marks a turning point in her grief and her resolve to move on.

After being cared for by the Hoffmeisters, Magda encourages Anna to go to Paris to find Adrien. The suggestion plants a new arc in Anna's healing, reframing her pursuit of closure as a path to living again. The family remains a touchstone even as their stories diverge.

Anna travels to Paris and tracks Adrien to his mother's estate, where she forgives him. He says he will never forgive himself. She then learns he is about to marry a childhood friend named Fanny, revealing that their romance was imagined by Anna; she kisses him goodbye at the railway station and leaves.

Anna continues writing to the Hoffmeisters as if she and Adrien are together, but in reality she is living her life in Paris. She has begun to move forward, carrying the memory of Frantz as he urged in his last letter.