Der junge Mann

In the organizer's words:

She is 54 years old when she falls in love again, marking the beginning of a period of daily phone calls and meetings at weekends because he still has a girlfriend, but he breaks up with her after a while. A time of lustful sexuality and whole days in bed in the drizzle begins. The fact that her boyfriend is 30 years younger than her and a student takes her back to her own past and to the time when she studied, lived in cold rooms and ate cheap food. At the same time, however, she does not escape the reality of her life, but her past and his present are transformed into a very special and intense reality that is independent of age. And while she and he enjoy being together, the guests at the neighboring tables look disapprovingly, the others on the beach appraise her body and that of her boyfriend skeptically and couples in a similar constellation cast conspiratorial glances at them.
Annie Ernaux tells the autofictional story of her love affair with a much younger man without shame, with great warmth and keen powers of observation. With a generous gesture, she invites us to change our perspective and see love instead of the (still) unfamiliar couple constellation.