Douce

If Harold Robbins had been alive and well in Paris under the German Occupation, he might have produced something like Douce: a story that follows the conflicting passions of a young girl and her governess in a stately Parisian home in 1887. What he would have missed is the delicately detailed charm, the burning class antagonisms, and a handsome young spectre who appears out of nowhere to wreak destruction upon all. In short, it wouldn't be what it is: enchanting. Melancholic melodrama at its best, knocking the soapbox out from under the legs of upperclass landlords, the ambitious bourgeoisie who seek to usurp their position, even Cupid himself.