3 coeurs ( 3 Hearts) (三顆痴痴的心)

Blaise Pascal (1623-1622), mathematician, physicist, theologian and philosopher once said that the heart has reasons which the head knows not. And for Marc Beaulieu (Benoît Poelvoorde), an otherwise non-remarkable tax accountant, his heart probably has more reason that his head can never understand. Every time that he meets a girl he fancies, no matter where and when, his heart would pound so hard that he may suffer a heart attack or near heart attack. He met one, after he missed the last train to Paris after investigating a client's case there. It's a girl that his eyes just caught as he was walking off the train station in great frustration after he rushed to the train just in time for its doors to close on him. He went into a cafe bar to get a bottle of mineral water after asking the bar tender that it was still open, took it and then the girl he saw before crossing the street came in and bought a packet of cigarette. After she left, he felt a compulsion to follow her. He did. He asked her if she knew a hotel. She showed him first one, then another. He went into the second. But before he checked in, he left the reception counter and went back to the girl waiting outside, Sylvie Berger (Charlotte Gainsbourg). They smoke. They got talking. They talked all night. When it was time to leave. They decide they would meet in Paris at the Jardin des Tuileries, near the fountain but did not exchange telephone at 6 p.m. the following Friday. Sylvie went, waited until 7 p.m. and returned home to her beloved sister Sophie Berger (Chiara Mastroianni) and mother Madame Berger (Catherine Deneuve ) and her husband  (Patrick Mille), with whom relations were not ideal. Owing to two Chinese clients who never said anything in reply to his questions, he was later than usual when he left the office that Friday and suffered a heart attack at the garage in which he nearly fainted. He recovered, drove at breakneck speed to the rendezvous only to miss it again. he went to see a doctor who declared that his heart was normal and that the attack was probably due to too much excitement.
Shortly thereafter and quite by coincidence, he met a woman crying at the corridor to his office. Out of a mix of curiosity and sympathy, he approached to ask why and if he could help and was told that owing to a mistake made by her sister, she mispresented certain figures in her accounts and as a result was asked to pay tax penalty. He consoled her and offered to look over her accounts on the weekend at her antique shop to see if there was anything he could do. He did. A relationship developed. He was surprised to find a photo of Sylvie in her house but said nothing. Sylvie and her husband would leave the following day for Minneapolis in connection with his company's business. Sophie who was on Skype with Sylvie all the time, often asked Marc to stand in front of the camera so she could introduce him to Sylvie but Marc always refused. Marc asked for a transfer to work in Sophie's town and started to decorate a house there as his new home. During the decoration, he discovered a cigarette lighter. It was the lighter he used when he first met Sylvie in the streets but he kept silent. They planned for the big day. Sylvie promised Sophie to return for her wedding but for but for some reasons did not turn up at the church ceremony and appeared only after the wedding reception at their family garden started.

At the wedding reception Marc was introduced to the mayor of the town who was about to campaign for another term. After the reception, Sylvie went out into the garden. Marc followed suit. They kissed passionately at the tool shed in the garden. The following day, they drove out to the countryside. Marc explained that he did not intend to miss the appointment at Paris and that he was prevented from going because his heart was pounding so furiously that he had a near heart attack but that he still made a desperate effort to attend the rendezvous. He was forgiven. Then Sylvie returned to the States. In the meantime, Marc started investigating the mayor's accounts and found certain irregularities which he told the major might constitute fraud and warned him that he had to report the case to the legal section. The mayor got mad and said, "who has never ever cheated". Marc merely replied  that the law is equal for all.

Some four years later, when had a boy, Sylvie returned. Her husband telephoned Sylvie many times from America. Sylvie never replied. They went to a hiking. During the sight seeing, both Sylvie and Marc were found missing at the same time.  They met inside a limestone cave and embraced each other. Madame Berger sensed something wrong. Sylvie's husband flew back to Sylvie's surprise. Sylvie begged him not to tell Sophie because Sophie was the most important person in her life and if he were to do so, she'd die. Her husband asked "tell what?". The following day, both Sylvie, without telling anyone and Marc, on the pretext that he had some business to attend to in Paris and would be there a few days, met at the Jardin des Tuilieries, at the spot they were supposed to meet 5 years ago. 

The 2014 film co-written by Julien Boivent and Benoît Jacquot and directed by the latter is a simple romantic story done with a bit of irony. If it were not for the wonderful performance put in by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Benoît Poelvoorde, which gives the story some credibility and for the music of Bruno Coulais, who produced an insistent rhythmic theme which seems to suggest the undercurrents of Marc's emotions very time he was with or about to meet Sylvie, the film would have been just another French middle class style romance. The film had been nominated for the best director, the best actress and best actor for the Lumiere Awards 2015 and for the Golden Lion for Benoît Jacquot at the Venice Film Festival 2014