The former famous painter Frenhofer lives quietly with his wife on a countryside residence in the French Provence. When the young artist Nicolas visits him with his girlfriend Marianne, Frenhofer decides to start again the work on a painting he long ago stopped: La Belle Noiseuse. And he wants Marianne as model.

Cast: Michel Piccoli, Emmanuelle Béart, Jane Birkin, Marianne Denicourt, David Bursztein, Gilles Arbona