Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1976, Eric Rohmer’s film is set in 1799 during the Russian invasion of Italy. A young widow, The Marquise (Edith Clever) lives with her parents in the fort her father commands. In the midst of battle, he Marquise is abducted by a group of rowdy soldiers and nearly taken advantage of when the Russian commander Count F (Bruno Ganz) rescues her. Later, the Marquise realizes she is pregnant, though she cannot decipher how the circumstance came to be. The Marquise pens a letter to the newspaper announcing that she will marry the father, whomever he may be, should he only present himself.
