La Chamade (also titled Heartbeat in English) is a 1968 romantic drama film directed by Alain Cavalier from a screenplay he co-wrote with Françoise Sagan, based on Sagan's 1965 novel of the same name. It stars Catherine Deneuve and Michel Piccoli, with Roger Van Hool, Jacques Sereys, Philippine Pascal and Irène Tunc. The film follows a young woman (Deneuve) who finds herself torn between her older, wealthy lover (Piccoli) and a working-class man her own age (Van Hool).

Plot

In Paris, 25-year-old Lucile is the beautiful, carefree mistress of Charles, a wealthy, kind-hearted, middle-aged businessman. She refuses to work and enjoys a life of luxury and comfort thanks to Charles, but does not feel true love for him. When she meets Antoine, a charming but penniless young publisher's reader who is the lover of an older socialite named Diane, the two instantly fall in love and begin an affair, regularly spending the afternoons together at his one-room apartment. While Charles is on a business trip to New York City, Antoine suggests that Lucile move in with him, telling her that she must choose between him and Charles.