Nadia Tereszkiewicz (Claude) and François Civil (Mathias) in 'Deux Pianos,' by Arnaud Desplechin. EMMANUELLE FIRMAN/LE PACTE
Le Monde's verdict – Worth seeing
For 2025, Arnaud Desplechin has decided to explore new ground. Following Spectateurs! (Filmlovers!), released in January, which experimented with a hybrid form of fiction and essay to recount a life deeply intertwined with cinema, Deux Pianos (Two Pianos) marks the director's first time filming in Lyon – far from Paris and Roubaix, his hometown in the north, which have played a major role in his filmography. Desplechin seems less interested here in provincial sociology than in a certain aesthetic charm and a highly functional geography. The film showcases some iconic locations in Lyon – the Parc de la Tête-d'Or, the two rivers running through the city, the auditorium – as well as more ordinary settings – apartments, squares, streets, bars – drawing a patchwork of spaces where the characters cross paths.
The story, too, begins with a journey: Mathias Vogler (François Civil), a former piano prodigy now regarded as a "simple musician," returns to the city where he first found success, after years of living abroad. There, he reunites with his mentor, the perfectionist Elena (Charlotte Rampling), who invites him to join her on stage for a series of concerts. In Lyon, he also randomly encounters a child in a square, like a ghost of his younger self, and after a party, Claude (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), the woman he once loved deeply, who is now in a relationship with Pierre (Jérémy Lewin), one of his closest friends. These encounters compel Mathias to confront a painful past, plunging him into bouts of heavy drinking and deep existential questioning.
