The Lovers on the Bridge

1/25/2026

As romances go, they don’t come a lot less orthodox than this one. “Alex” (Denis Lavant) is a vagrant who finds a berth of a night on the Pont Neuf over the Seine that has been closed for renovation. He survives on a diet of drugs and alcohol and has no real friends beyond his dealer on the bridge. One night he discovers a woman sleeping in his spot. Neither man knows quite how she got there, but “Hans” (Klaus-Michael Grüber) vows to send her packing next morning. When that time comes, however, “Alex” discovers that “Michèle” (Juliet Binoche) is not only an artist, but that she has sketched him too. He wants that drawing, and she agrees if he will pose for a proper one. That’s the start of a relationship that reveals to him that she has a degenerative eye disease that might render her blin