Alceste à Bicyclette plot
At the peak of his career as a stage actor, Serge Tanneur retires from the theater world for good. He's had enough of a job where everyone betrays each other. Since then, Serge has lived like a hermit in a dilapidated house on the island of Ile de Ré... Three years later, the celebrated television actor Gauthier Valence arrives on the island. He is looking for Serge and proposes to him to play Molière's "Le Misanthrope" (The Man-hater). After all, isn't Serge the incarnate embodiment of protagonist Alceste? At first Serge reacts negatively, but in the end he proposes to rehearse the first big scene of the first act - between Philinte and Alceste. After five days of rehearsal, he'll know if he still feels like doing it or not. The two actors take turns distrusting each other and are split between the pleasure of playing together and the sudden urge to fight each other. Gauthier's goodwill is regularly tested by Serge's bitterness. And around them reigns the microcosm of Ile de Ré. Will Serge eventually be back on stage?