Benvenuta

The film Benvenuta recalls in many ways Delvaux's earlier film Meeting in Bray. The narrative unfolds on two levels that are not distinctly separated and may or may not be causally connected. Both stories concern unusual romantic encounters and complement each other in an intriguing way.

In the first, screenwriter François (Mathieu Carrière) visits writer Jeanne (Françoise Fabian), whose character Benvenuta he would like to adapt for film. The parallel story of a girl's passionate encounter (Fanny Ardant) with her Italian lover Livio Capri (Vittorio Gassman), who names her Benvenuta, could be precisely the narrative François wants to film.

Both stories, however, take place in the present, and the final meeting of the two protagonists suggests that this ambiguity is key to the telling of Benvenuta.