Ferragus

Summary

Within the shadowy, labyrinthine alleys of 19th-century Paris, Ferragus unfurls a gripping, morally complex tapestry of familial devotion, societal hypocrisy, and the inexorable grip of a hidden past. The narrative plunges into the torment of Auguste de Maulincour, a young officer whose idyllic marriage to the ethereal Clémence is shattered by her inexplicable, clandestine nocturnal disappearances. His gnawing suspicion, initially fueled by jealousy, morphs into a relentless, almost maniacal quest for the truth, propelling him into the city's murky underbelly. Unbeknownst to Maulincour, Clémence's furtive excursions are not for a lover, but to visit her father, Ferragus XXII, an enigmatic and powerful former convict, now the leader of ‘The Thirteen,’ a formidable secret society. This revelation, meticulously concealed by Clémence to shield her husband from the disgrace of her father’s past, becomes the fulcrum of the tragedy. Ferragus, a man of profound contradictions—a criminal mastermind yet a doting parent—orchestrates a perilous game of deception and intimidation to protect his daughter's reputation and her new life. The film masterfully portrays the escalating tension as Maulincour's obsessive investigation inexorably tightens the noose around Ferragus’s carefully constructed façade. The collision of these two worlds—the respectable bourgeois existence and the perilous clandestine one—leads to a devastating cascade of events, culminating in Maulincour's tragic demise and Clémence's subsequent death from grief and shattered innocence, leaving Ferragus to confront the bitter irony of his destructive paternal love.

Synopsis