The Elegant Criminal (1990) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language

1990 · 125 mins · French

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Directed by

Francis Girod

Starring

Aurélien Recoing, Daniel Auteuil, François Périer, Jacques Weber, Daniel Mesguich, Samuel Labarthe

On 9 January 1836 the condemned murderer‑thief Pierre Lacenaire faces the guillotine. While awaiting death he confides his memoir to Inspector Allard, begging him to protect Hermine, the young woman he has cared for a decade. Flashbacks—from the prison, Allard’s study, and later readers—show Lacenaire’s bullied childhood, early thefts, first murder, brief army stint, seduction of a princess, and a tragic affair with the young man Avril, who dies beside him.