Le Rouge et le Noir / The Red and the Black

The two-part television series Le Rouge et le noir is based on the historical novel by Henri Beyle Stendhal (1783–1842), published in 1830. The two films, directed by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, chronicle the attempts of Julian Sorel, a young man who grows up in a small French village, to rise socially beyond his modest upbringing through a combination of talent, hard work, deception, and hypocrisy. He wishes he could have been a part of Napoleon’s grand army.  Some years later, he becomes caught up in the July Revolution in Paris in 1832. In the end he ultimately allows his passions to betray him.