Byzance uses a text by Stefan Zweig to describe the Ottoman conquest of the city in 1453. Before he turned to feature filmmaking in 1968 with Naked Childhood, Pialat worked on a series of short films, many of them financed by French television. Byzance is one of Pialat’s six Turkish shorts.

En 1914, entre Vienne et Budapest, un jeune lieutenant se prend de compassion pour une jeune paralytique, il est entrainé par sa lâcheté dans un piège sentimental.

Anna is married to her teacher, Professor. Their marriage is a mutual agreement with no great feelings. Marriage gives both a status they need; love must be found elsewhere. Roland is a young man, beautiful body, transparent skin, clear eyes, a keen mind for wisdom. He falls in love with Professor, a man older than Roland's father. Affection grows to be mutual. Roland is eager to give all he has to give, he even tries to be a part of the family. When he finds out that there is no family, his focus is Professor and his happiness. This elder man is also intellectually highly affected by the love Roland gives. They have beautiful conversations, the likes that we seldom hear in movies anymore (not even in books). They speak of virtue, honor, love, affection, and integrity, which are all the cornerstones of their relationship. But they don't speak of flesh. Professor nearly faints down when he sees Roland's bare breast since the beauty of youth has its own reasons and own power. He listens behind Roland's door as if to get a non-physical touch of that beauty. The story is really intense and when the separation of those two is evident, not only Roland is in tears; anyone who remembers will shed tears for his or her own dreams that did not come true.

改编自奥地利小说家茨威格的作品，这部电影将背景分别设在1913、1936和2001年。一个78岁的老人路易斯回到赌场以及他小时侯的海边胜地，他遇上了奥利维娅，一个年仅19岁的小女孩，她迷上了一个暴戾的车夫。路易斯在回忆1913的时候与一个年轻的波兰女赌徒发生的“韵事”，与此同时，他也倾述了在1936年自己母亲与他的意大利籍网球教练的一段风流史，还有一个叫做马莉布朗的老寡妇曾经帮助过他自己度过难关的事件。

根据茨威格小说改编的电视电影。英格丽褒曼主演

Note: Because this project is categorized as in development, the data is only available on IMDbPro and is subject to change.