Gilbert Valence (Michel Piccoli) is a veteran actor appearing in a production of Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King. One day after the performance, he is told that his wife, daughter, and son-in-law have been killed in an automobile accident. Valence decides to look after his orphaned young grandson. Although decked by grief, he tries to resume a normal life. Certain habits help. At his favorite restaurant, for example, he always has his coffee at the same table with a full view of the Parisian streets. Whenever another customer sits there, Valence is visibly thrown off balance, and he becomes agitated.
His agent Georges (Antoine Chappey) finds the actor what he thinks is a great opportunity — appearing in a TV movie filled with drugs and violence. Valence declines. He returns to the stage in the role of Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest but is not interested in the romantic intimations of a young actress. Valance is very proud of the some new shoes but they are stolen from him by a mugger. The elderly actor takes it as a sign that his career is nearly over. And when things don't pan out in an American production of James Joyce's Ulysses directed by John Crawford ( John Malkovich), Valence decides to retire.
Portuguese writer and director Manoel de Oliveira is at the helm of this sensitive and beautifully acted drama about old age, grief, and urban living. Michel Piccoli gives a tour de force performance as the seasoned actor who is slowly worn down by the losses that deplete his energy and drain the vitality of his soul.
