Three generations of women untangle a complex family story that encompasses the First and Second World Wars, revealing unexpected lessons about marriage and fidelity.
Christiane, 86 years old with a vibrant sense of humor, lives alone in a large apartment in the heart of Paris. Her daughter, Catherine, is her total opposite: sullen and uptight, filled with resentment toward her unfaithful Milanese husband. After discovering yet another affair, Catherine takes refuge in Paris at her mother’s home, accompanied by her own daughter, Luna. Christiane --- who, in spite of occasional dalliances on both sides, lived a beautiful love story with her late husband --- uses all of her freethinking charm in an effort to change Catherine’s rigid, self-pitying attitude.
As the women air their opposing views, Luna discovers by chance that her great-grandfather had met the philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the subject of the thesis she is in the middle of writing. Seeing Luna’s avid curiosity, Christiane takes the opportunity to tell the story of her family, which spans the 20th century. Memories resurface, and past events are reconstructed, shedding a new light on the present.
With a keen, lighthearted wit, THE DEVIL'S REWARD shows that life is complicated and often painful, but when conventional morals are imperative, it becomes unbearable.
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