Character Relationship Map: Fidelity

Characters

• Clélia (played by Sophie Marceau) — protagonist

  Clélia is a talented Canadian photographer who moves to Paris to work for La Verite. Her assignments draw her into Rupert MacRoi's scandal-driven world and into relationships with both Clève and Némo....

• Némo (played by Guillaume Canet) — protagonist

  Némo is a young, seductive photographer from a poor background who works for La Verite. Initially attracted to Clélia, he follows and photographs her while secretly investigating Clève for Rupert MacR...

• Clève (played by Pascal Greggory) — supporting

  Clève is a middle-aged children's book publisher whose struggling company is acquired by Rupert MacRoi. He falls in love with Clélia, breaks his engagement, marries her, and becomes increasingly suspi...

• Rupert MacRoi (played by Michel Subor) — supporting

  Rupert MacRoi is the scandal-mongering owner of La Verite and a powerful businessman who purchases Clève's publishing company. He once dated Clélia's mother and still desires Clélia despite their age...

• Ina (played by Edéa Darcque) — minor

  Ina is Némo's girlfriend at the time he becomes involved with Clélia. After Clélia's wedding, Némo leaves Ina and continues pursuing Clélia, making Ina an early sign of the personal damage caused by h...

• Genièvre (played by Julie Brochen) — minor

  Genièvre is Rupert MacRoi's sister and Clève's fiancée at the beginning of the story. During a family dinner, Clève declares his love for Clélia in front of her, prompting Genièvre to call off the wed...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Rupert MacRoi → Némo (Professional Employer) — MacRoi uses Némo as an investigative photographer and publicly rewards his dangerous work.

  Némo is assigned by MacRoi to spy on Clélia and investigate Clève, and MacRoi later presents him with a motorcycle for exposing gangsters.

• Rupert MacRoi → Clève (Professional Business Acquirer) — MacRoi gains business leverage over Clève and turns that leverage into personal pressure.

  MacRoi announces the purchase of Clève's publishing company and later seeks damaging information about Clève.

• Némo → Ina (Romantic Girlfriend) — Némo's relationship with Ina ends as his attachment to Clélia intensifies.

  Némo leaves his girlfriend Ina after Clélia's wedding.

• Clélia → Némo (Romantic Complicated Love Interest) — Their attraction develops into an emotionally intimate but incomplete relationship.

  Clélia is attracted to Némo, continues seeing him, rushes to him after his motorcycle crash, and calls him the youth she did not have.

• Clélia → Clève (Romantic Spouse) — Their marriage is the film's central formal relationship and a source of emotional conflict.

  Clélia accepts Clève's engagement ring and later marries him, although their marriage is undermined by suspicion and separation.

• Clève → Genièvre (Romantic Fiancé) — Their planned marriage collapses because of Clève's feelings for Clélia.

  Clève is preparing to marry Genièvre, but she calls off the wedding after he declares his love for Clélia.

• Rupert MacRoi → Genièvre (Family Sibling) — MacRoi and Genièvre belong to the same family and share involvement in the publishing business.

  The dinner-party account identifies Genièvre as MacRoi's sister.

• Clélia → Rupert MacRoi (Former Family Connection) — A troubling connection links Clélia to MacRoi through her mother's past and his continuing attraction.

  Clélia's mother previously dated Rupert MacRoi before marrying Clélia's father. Rupert later desires Clélia despite knowing she could be his daughter.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Némo → Clève (Conflict Rival) — Némo's presence intensifies Clève's fear of losing his wife.

  Némo photographs Clélia and Clève during sex, investigates Clève for MacRoi, and remains emotionally connected to Clélia.

Story Analysis

A photographer struggles between marital fidelity, forbidden desire, professional manipulation, and the burden of memory.

Plot Progression

1. A Camera in Paris — Clélia arrives in Paris and joins MacRoi's scandal-driven newspaper. Her artistic identity and her mother's history connect her to a dangerous social world.
2. Desire and Advantage — Clélia encounters Clève and becomes involved with him while MacRoi uses attraction and business power to control those around him. A dinner-party confession destroys Clève's engagement.
3. Marriage Under Observation — Clélia accepts Clève's ring and marries him, seeking stability. Némo's photographs and MacRoi's surveillance expose the fragile boundary between marriage, journalism, and intrusion.
4. The Dangerous Investigation — Clélia remains drawn to Némo as he investigates illegal organ trafficking. Violence, jealousy, and the bishop's public scandal increasingly damage her marriage.
5. Fire, Loss, and Memory — An attack outside La Verite kills MacRoi and fatally injures Clève. Years later, Clélia confronts the memory of her marriage through Némo's film and relinquishes her rings.