The Long Absence

Sixteen years after the war, Thérèse runs a cozy pub in Puteaux and uses the off-season to plan her annual trip to Chaulieu with her lover. Their relationship feels strained, with unspoken tensions and fading intimacy. This setup establishes the emotional stakes that drive Thérèse's search for the past.

The tramp frequents Thérèse's pub every day, singing opera and drawing the attention of Thérèse and her regulars. His songs, especially The Barber of Seville, give him an almost magical pull. He becomes a recurring, enigmatic presence in the little community.

Thérèse has her bartender, Martine, invite the tramp for a drink. The man claims amnesia and says he lives by the river, producing an identification bearing the name Robert Landais. He neither confirms nor denies his past identity, leaving questions intact.

After the drink, Thérèse follows him to the river, studying his face and mannerisms with growing certainty. She becomes convinced that the tramp could be her long-lost husband, Albert Langlois, and clings to the possibility. Her emotional tension deepens as she weighs memory against doubt.

To pursue the truth, Thérèse enlists her Aunt Alice and Albert’s nephew to join the investigation. They prepare to unravel Albert's past and see if the tramp could be the missing husband. The plan binds family memories to the present mystery.

Alice and the nephew recount Albert's wartime history in detail: he was arrested in Chaulieu in June 1944 and handed over to the Gestapo in Angers. He was held in a camp with his close friend Aldo Ganbini, a link to the family. The retelling ties the Langlois lineage to Chaulieu and to Thérèse's Ganbini roots.

Thérèse’s own background connects her to Chaulieu as a Ganbini who stayed in Puteaux, deepening the link between past and present. The revelation makes the mystery feel personal and urgent.

Alice admits she did not recognize the tramp and doubts he is Albert, noting that Albert never knew opera. The uncertainty highlights how fragile memory can be after years of separation.

Thérèse asserts that Albert could have learned opera during captivity with Aldo, keeping her hope alive that memory can return. She clings to the idea as a lifeline amid the ambiguity.

In a charged moment, Thérèse ends her romance with her own lover and shares a dinner with the tramp, which leads to a tentative dance. The act marks a risky bid to reawaken the past through shared memory and music.

When Thérèse calls out Albert Langlois in public, some friends back her suspicions while the tramp stops, raises his hands in surrender, and then bolts away. The scene leaves the truth unresolved and the crowd divided.

The tramp escapes the danger of a traffic incident, and Thérèse’s circle urges patience. They resolve to try again in winter, preserving the fragile thread of memory and hope.