Xavier Giannoli's sumptuous adaptation of Honoré de Balzac's epic novel, LOST ILLUSIONS is a ravishing vision of the birth of modern media. Lucien de Rubempré (Benjamin Voisin) is an ambitious and unknown aspiring poet in 19th century France who falls into a sordid world of mercenary print publishing in Paris, discovering that the written word can be an instrument of both beauty and deceit.