Bel Ami

Bel Ami is a 2012 drama film directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod and starring Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci and Colm Meaney. The film is based on the 1885 French novel of the same name by Guy de Maupassant. The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival on 17 February 2012, and was released theatrically on 8 June 2012 by Magnolia Pictures. The film was budgeted at €9 million. Plot Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson) is a penniless former soldier making a living as an office clerk in 1880s Paris. At a club he meets an old friend, Charles Forestier (Philip Glenister), with whom he spent three years during the war in Algeria. The friend is well off and invites Georges to his home where he meets Mrs. Madeleine Forestier (Uma Thurman) and her friends Clotilde de Marelle (Christina Ricci) and Virginie Rousset (Kristin Scott Thomas). Mrs. Rousset's husband is an editor of the conservative newspaper La Vie Française and she helps Georges to get a job there, initially by publishing his diaries from the war in the paper. Gradually his social and financial standing improves, with Duroy using his wit and powers of seduction to charm wealthy women. Cast Robert Pattinson as Georges Duroy Uma Thurman as Madeleine Forestier Kristin Scott Thomas as Virginie Rousset Christina Ricci as Clotilde de Marelle Colm Meaney as Monsieur Rousset Philip Glenister as Charles Forestier Holliday Grainger as Suzanne Natalia Tena as Rachel the Prostitute James Lance as François Laroche Anthony Higgins as Comte de Vaudrec