Lost Illusions

Criticism is easy, and art is difficult

A melancholic 19th-century period drama about artistic ambition corrupted by the machinery of Paris's literary world, tracing a young poet's disillusionment.

Lucien de Rubempré, a young, lower-class poet, leaves his family's printing house for Paris. Soon, he learns the dark side of the arts business as he tries to stay true to his dreams.