Quartet 1981

Marya ‘Mado’ Zelli, Isabelle Adjani, is living with her husband Stephan, Alan Bates, a Polish art dealer, in 1927 Paris. When he is convicted of selling stolen artwork and imprisoned for a year, Marya is left penniless, with no means to support herself.

At Stephan’s urging, she moves into the apartment of acquaintances, H.J. Heidler, Anthony Higgins, a wealthy English art dealer, and his wife Lois, Maggie Smith, a painter. Heidler has a history of inviting vulnerable young women to move into the spare room, only to seduce them, and Lois agrees to this arrangement in order to keep H.J. from leaving her.

Marya becomes involved in the decadent Parisian lifestyle of the Heidlers and their circle of fellow expatriates. Although she initially resists H.J.’s advances, Mado eventually begins an affair with him. The strain of living with the Heidlers begins to weigh on her; she grows desperate to leave and begs Lois to lend her money so she can get away. Lois, though deeply unhappy, is reluctant to interfere for fear of alienating H.J., and her behavior toward Marya becomes increasingly passive-aggressive and insulting. During a hunting excursion to the countryside, Marya angrily confronts the pair, driving Lois to break down in anguish.

After this, H.J. arranges for Marya to live in a hotel, where he visits her less frequently for sexual trysts. She grows lonely and depressed, contemplating suicide. During a tea party at the Heidlers’, Lois casually reveals that H.J.’s previous mistress drowned herself in despair. When things are at their worst, Stephan is released from prison and must leave France immediately. Heidler threatens to cut ties with Marya entirely if she returns to her husband, and although Marya longs to be reunited with Stephan, she is unable to choose between the two. Stephan realizes the truth, and the film ends with him leaving Marya to an uncertain future.