The cure lies in the dark
Logline
Michel Morel lives a quiet life as an aging businessman in Paris.
One morning, he falls seven hundred years back in time and becomes a participant in a tragic love story. Suddenly, in his present life, an internet stranger appears who stirs memories of a seven-hundred-year-old love and draws Michel into a confrontation between Light and Darkness.
One morning, he falls seven hundred years back in time and becomes a participant in a tragic love story. Suddenly, in his present life, an internet stranger appears who stirs memories of a seven-hundred-year-old love and draws Michel into a confrontation between Light and Darkness.
AN AGING ACTOR
named Michel Morrel finds an ancient artifact at an auction. At the same moment, he is transported to the 14th century, where he sees himself as a young guy named Philip. He remembers his beloved Marguerite, who died with him 700 years ago. Upon regaining consciousness, Michel discovers that he is under suspicion of murder and theft of an artifact.
Commissioner Lurie is Philip's mentor from the 14th century. This is Guillaume de Nogaret, an adept of the Dark Order. His task is to prevent Michel from reuniting with his beloved. If Nogaret wins, the world will be plunged into Darkness.
Commissioner Lurie is Philip's mentor from the 14th century. This is Guillaume de Nogaret, an adept of the Dark Order. His task is to prevent Michel from reuniting with his beloved. If Nogaret wins, the world will be plunged into Darkness.
If the loving souls find each other here and now, Light will reign all over the planet.
Laura, a writer from Russia, remembers the same events from the 14th century. Laura is looking for Michel to save him. Michel lives only by the desire to save her Marguerite. He doesn't suspect that Laura is her. Lurie prevents him from meeting Laura in every possible way, but Laura's love turns out to be stronger.
They meet on the ocean shore. Two lovers, a Divine Couple, come face to face with Dark Forces. The fate of the world is in their hands for the whole night.
Laura, a writer from Russia, remembers the same events from the 14th century. Laura is looking for Michel to save him. Michel lives only by the desire to save her Marguerite. He doesn't suspect that Laura is her. Lurie prevents him from meeting Laura in every possible way, but Laura's love turns out to be stronger.
They meet on the ocean shore. Two lovers, a Divine Couple, come face to face with Dark Forces. The fate of the world is in their hands for the whole night.
MAIN CHARACTERS
MICHEL MOREL
65 YEARS OLD. An aging actor who has become disillusioned with love and women. Self-imposed emotional restrictions have robbed him of the joy of creativity, so Michel increasingly devotes himself to business.
He considers a solitary life a blessing and rejects family formats because he has never seen healthy relationships; silence and peace are important to him. In public, he maintains a rigid, arrogant demeanor, is as haughty as a teenager, and easily offended.
Deep inside, he's an unloved child, lonely and dreamy, but he hides his soul behind external polish and emotional armor.
He considers a solitary life a blessing and rejects family formats because he has never seen healthy relationships; silence and peace are important to him. In public, he maintains a rigid, arrogant demeanor, is as haughty as a teenager, and easily offended.
Deep inside, he's an unloved child, lonely and dreamy, but he hides his soul behind external polish and emotional armor.
He tenderly loves his cat and writes fairy tales.
The sudden immersion into the Middle Ages and the appearance of True Love in his life disturbs him and creates discomfort, threatening to destroy his established routine and zone of inner comfort. Therefore, he flees from real relationships into the realm of illusions and past experiences.
The sudden immersion into the Middle Ages and the appearance of True Love in his life disturbs him and creates discomfort, threatening to destroy his established routine and zone of inner comfort. Therefore, he flees from real relationships into the realm of illusions and past experiences.
CHRISTOPHER LAMBERT, for whom this role was written, has agreed to participate in the project
- NOTE 1Young Michel is played by the same actor who plays Philippe. Additionally, a six-year-old child is required to play little Michel, and a 16-year-old teenager for one episode.
- NOTE 2We should consider the possibility of "rejuvenating" the main character using artificial intelligence, which would eliminate problems with casting a young actor. Christopher Lambert is willing to participate in this experiment.
LAURA
50 YEARS OLD. Writer, artist. Physical resemblance to Marguerite, with chestnut curly hair, dark eyes, and slightly tanned skin. Appears significantly younger than her age.
Laura has a special gift. What has only now crashed down on Michel—memories of a past incarnation—has been part of Laura's life since childhood.
She has always remembered her former fate—the tragic destiny of Marguerite of Burgundy—and lives with the memory of her love for Philippe.
Laura has a special gift. What has only now crashed down on Michel—memories of a past incarnation—has been part of Laura's life since childhood.
She has always remembered her former fate—the tragic destiny of Marguerite of Burgundy—and lives with the memory of her love for Philippe.
Michel, as the current incarnation of Philippe, is her eternal beloved, and what Michel must learn—Unconditional Love—comes to her as naturally as breathing. Remembering past incarnations and understanding the essence of True Love, she is wise, determined, and aware of her power, and most importantly—her right to be happy. She is ready to defend this right even with weapons in hand... In the finale, we see that in her hands is indeed the most powerful weapon—the Power of Love.
- NOTEThe role of young Laura is played by the actress who portrays Marguerite. Additionally, girls aged 8 and 5 are required for flashbacks.
MARGUERITE
20-24 YEARS OLD. One of the infamous "Burgundian princesses," Queen of Navarre.
Luxuriant chestnut hair, cat-like grace, dark eyes "capable of caressing everything around with their gaze" (from contemporaries' descriptions).
Marguerite is intelligent, capricious, and flighty, with an active, sparkling temperament.
She believes in her safety and King Philip the Fair's loyalty, so she feels entitled to openly hate her own husband (Louis) and almost as openly love her squire (Philippe).
She is faithful and devoted to Philippe, bore him a daughter, but doesn't understand the depth of her feelings for him until they part forever.
Her consciousness changes at the moment when Marguerite is forced to watch Philippe's execution, and this precise moment becomes the reference point for Laura's memories and Michel's "awakening."
Luxuriant chestnut hair, cat-like grace, dark eyes "capable of caressing everything around with their gaze" (from contemporaries' descriptions).
Marguerite is intelligent, capricious, and flighty, with an active, sparkling temperament.
She believes in her safety and King Philip the Fair's loyalty, so she feels entitled to openly hate her own husband (Louis) and almost as openly love her squire (Philippe).
She is faithful and devoted to Philippe, bore him a daughter, but doesn't understand the depth of her feelings for him until they part forever.
Her consciousness changes at the moment when Marguerite is forced to watch Philippe's execution, and this precise moment becomes the reference point for Laura's memories and Michel's "awakening."
- NOTEMarguerite and young Laura are the same person, played by one actress. An actress is also needed for the role of 14-year-old Marguerite.
PHILIPPE
24-27 YEARS OLD. Marguerite's beloved, a squire. Fair-haired, well-built young man who is excellent with horses. He sincerely loves Marguerite and for her salvation goes not just to a terrible execution, but makes a deal that compromises his honor and knight's conscience.
He adores her daughter (Little Jeanne), whom he rightfully considers his own. Open, honest, and brave, he sincerely believes in the triumph of justice and trusts his mentor Nogaret.
He adores her daughter (Little Jeanne), whom he rightfully considers his own. Open, honest, and brave, he sincerely believes in the triumph of justice and trusts his mentor Nogaret.
- NOTE 1Philippe and young Michel are the same person. For men, a ten-year difference is not noticeable, so both ages (24-year-old Philippe and
35-year-old Michel) can be played by one young actor. - NOTE 2For the episodic role of Philippe at 16, as well as for playing Michel in the flashback—also at
16—another actor is needed.
COMMISSIONER LOURIE
60 YEARS OLD. While Michel and Laura are "immortal" relatively, like all ancient souls, this character appears absolutely immortal. For the audience, it should remain a mystery whether Commissioner Lourie simply has such detailed and strong memory, or if he is truly immortal, as an embodiment of Evil.
- NOTECommissioner Lourie and Chancellor Nogaret are the same person.
SETTING
My story unites two worlds, two universes: the present with flashbacks to the main stages of Michel's life, and a historical block where his immortal, magical, albeit tragic, love lives.
The modern block
is the respectable world of Paris, the main location of the protagonist, as well as his "childhood island"—Italian Ischia, a place where he was once happy and returns to in his dreams. Ischia Island is the location where the finale takes place, uniting Michel's dream with his reality. Michel's current reality is filled with the quiet sadness of memories of unfulfilled dreams, of love that once was dreamed of but never realized.
"This was not my Paris. I remembered and loved a different city—smelling of manure, gutters, the dirty water of the Seine, and fish; there, in the huge city saturated with exhaust fumes and car horns, I was a stranger."
Here the hero lives, awaiting the end of his biography; he constantly works but no longer expects life to bring him peaks, feats, or mad passion. The aesthetic of Michel's living space—hotel apartments executed in purely "masculine" tones, not assuming the presence of warm "feminine" shades—gray and black marble of respectability and peace. The characters here don't live—they only await life, remembering the past—tragic but vivid. The protagonist's vision is poor, his color perception shifted toward the blue spectrum, so the space of the modern block is filled with these shades.
The historical block
is the world of the hero's bright and youthful Love. This part—the memories of the characters—is filled with life. Here lives a bright, luminous, and tragic love, the very feeling that our heroes remember through seven hundred years. Here is life itself, with the first kiss, first embraces; with love filled with the bitterness of partings, love under the threat of death, and therefore especially acute.
For our heroes, real life is contained precisely in these memories. That life is more real for the heroes than the present one, and we must convey to the maximum the longing of our heroes for those long-ago feelings. That is why the contrast between the visual imagery of the two blocks—historical and modern—is so necessary. The memory block is a kind of fairy tale that one is strongly drawn to, but which will not return.
That's why at the very beginning of the film, Michel couldn't buy Parcelier's painting—it was too early to introduce light and warmth into his life. A vivid impression—the golden purse at the auction—broke his peace.
That's why at the very beginning of the film, Michel couldn't buy Parcelier's painting—it was too early to introduce light and warmth into his life. A vivid impression—the golden purse at the auction—broke his peace.
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