Malady of Love (1987) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language

1987 · 122 mins · French

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Directed by

Jacques Deray

Starring

Michel Piccoli, Nastassja Kinski, Catherine Jacob, Michael Goldman, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Alain Ollivier

Two physicians—elderly Raoul and young Clément—both fall for the whimsical hairdresser Juliette. She first couples with Raoul, then becomes enamored of Clément, who abandons his fiancée, moves to the provinces, opens a practice, and urges her to have a child. Overwhelmed, Juliette flees back to Raoul. When she later contracts Hodgkin’s disease and treatment fails, Raoul declares she suffers from the “malady of love,” leaving the question of a cure unresolved.