Philippe Morel

The Arbac de Neuvilles are one of the oldest families in France. They have inhabited their ancient château for fifty-two generations and are proud of their noble ancestry. But today they are stone broke. When a bailiff turns up notifying them that they owe two million euros in back taxes, these proud aristocrats are understandably shaken to the core of their ancestral seat. Just how are they to find this amount of money when none of them has any capacity for work?

Jacques Marbeuf plays a fortune teller who seduces women with the help of his assistant and manipulated lollipops. One girl reports him to the police; so he decides to run a marriage bureau. Some of his 'female victims' have already changed sides and work for him to lure male clients whom they feed with their 'sucettes magiques'. Even the investigating policemen can't resist them. In the end oil is found on Marbeuf's property in the Camargue and he gets rich.

In 1991, 24-year-old Detective Alexandre Falco has it all, a loving wife, a new-born daughter and his dream job. But one day out in the field, he is shot in the head. Falco opens his eyes again 22 years later to a changed world, where everything he once had is no longer as it was.