Dir.: Raul Ruiz; Script: Raul Ruiz, Pascal Bonitzer; Phot.: Stephan Ivanov; Ed.: Valeria Sarmiento; Mus.: Jorge Arriagada; Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Michel Piccoli, Melvil Poupaud, Andrzej Seweryn, Bernadette Lafont, Monique Mélinand, Hubert Saint-Macary, Jean-Yves Gautier, Mathieu Amalric, Camila Mora, Patrick Modiano, Jean Badin; Prod. & Sales: Gemini Films, 73, rue Saint-Denis, 75001 Paris (France), tél.: 40 39 03 75, fax: 42 33 12 13.

Jeanne is a Freudian psychoanalyst who was convinced she had detected homicidal tendencies in her five-year-old nephew. As a disciple of Freud, she firmly believed that at this age her nephew's character was firmly fixed. Jeanne therefore decided to observe the inexorable development of her nephew's criminal tendencies until such time as he was ripe to commit murder. What happened, however, was that the nephew killed his aunt -- the only person who knew of his character flaw. The young man, René, is now represented by a lawyer, Solange, who hopes to clarify the complex relationship that had developed between the victim and the (future) perpetrator of the crime over a period of more than a decade. She tries to show that Jeanne sought not only to study René's homicidal tendencies but to prove her theories as well. The young man sought to punish his aunt for her curiosity and was also "lured" by her into committing the crime. Then the case becomes even more complicated when René begins confusing Solange with his dead aunt and Solange herself sees her young client as a reincarnation of the son she lost in a car accident.