Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.
Based on the 2000 book of the same name by Emmanuel Carrère, it is inspired by the real-life story of Jean-Claude Romand. L'Adversaire's protagonist Jean-Marc Faure (Auteuil) pursues an imaginary career as a doctor of medicine in a plot more closely based on Romand's life and Carrère's book than was Laurent Cantet's 2001 film L'Emploi du Temps. The film was nominated for a Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.
Through five stories, the movie addresses sex and love: Paco and Ana are a marriage looking for reactivate the passion of their sexual relations, long time unsatisfied; Jose Luis tries to recover the affections of his wife Paloma, sit down on a wheelchair after an accident which has limited her mobility; Mª Candelaria and Antonio are a marriage trying by all way to be parents, but she has the trouble that no get an orgasm when make love with him; Álex try to satisfy Natalia's fantasies, while she starts to doubt if he finally will ask her in marriage; and finally, Sandra is a single woman in a permanent searching for a man to fall in love. All them love, fear, live and explore their diverse sexual paraphilias and the different sides of sexuality, trying to find the road to happiness.
Paris doctor Catherine starts to think her husband, Bernard, is having an affair when she hears an unfamiliar woman's message on his voice mail. Hoping to learn more about his extramarital activities, Catherine heads to a strip club, where she hires call girl Nathalie to have a fling with Gerard. As the affair progresses, Nathalie gives Catherine regular status reports, and the relationship between the women evolves from business to personal.
Santiago, gay single father, has reached a tipping point in his life. Reeling from a bitter breakup, he is facing the impending departure of his daughter Laila, with whom he shares a close yet emotionally charged relationship. As the fear of being alone threatens to swallow him whole, his behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Over the course of a chaotic summer divided between Argentina and Brazil, Santiago must learn to let go of Laila so each can find their own freedoms.
Set in Madrid, Spain, this engaging comedy chronicles the complex relationship between single female Esperanza, who can't buy a date, and her best friend Ramón, a gay divorce attorney whose bed is never empty. The pair's friendship is put to the test when Esperanza introduces Ramón to her fellow teacher -- who soon sends Ramón's life spinning out of control.
Serge is a long distance lorry driver between Morocco andEurope. In Tangier, he tries to reconcile with his former girlfriend, Sarah. She has refused to have anything to do with him since her mother’s death and intends to join her brother in Canada. Serge appeals to Sarah’s protector, a young Arab named Saïd, to allow him to meet up with Sarah, promising in return to smuggle Saïd into Europe...
Angela and Antonio are a couple who, like many others, fell in love, lived an illusion, had children, tried hard not to give up and fell several times. When love ends, questions arise: where did it all go wrong? How did we end up like this? In a journey through the lights and shadows of their relationship, Angela and Antonio struggle against the test of time, desire and idealization.
