This brutally intimate film about the moment-to-moment dissolution of a love affair stars Romain Duris as a brooding, bestubbled Parisian juggling a hot-and-cold relationship with a jet-setting careerist (Gainsbourg) and the intrusions of a middle-aged male stalker who claims he is the love of his life. Fueled by emotionally charged dialogue and nervy, passionate performances, Persecution continues Chéreau’s masterful observation of human desire in all its intricacies and contradictions.