Not a bad pairing, is it? ScreenDaily (via ThePlaylist) tells us that the controversial auteur and acclaimed actress will be joining forces on an adaptation of Breillat‘s own book, Abuse of Weakness — or Abus De Faiblesse — which centered on her experiences with a con man, Christophe Rocancourt. The two met in the middle of this past decade (she wanted to cast him in a film based on his own life, Bad Love), but their relationship ended when the filmmaker accused Rocancourt of stealing approximately €850,000 from her, following a stroke.

It’s clearly some deep, personal territory for Breillat — so, when you think about it, one could do a lot worse than cast Isabelle Huppert as themselves. This version of the story doesn’t veer too wildly from the past, as it concerns “self-destructive, hemiplegic film director Maud who enters into a dangerous friendship with flamboyant crook Vilko”; he’ll be played by French rapper Kool Shen. Arte France Cinema are producing the picture, which is expected to begin rolling during the second half of this year.

Breillat is no slouch herself, and I love it when (talented) filmmakers get overtly personal for any of their projects, be it autobiographic or creatively-based. (I recently saw Lars von Trier‘s Epidemic for the first time, as a perfect example.) Some of her work can be too confrontational and, frankly, mean for my taste, but melding these characteristics with her own story — and placing Huppert in the middle of it all — is bound to be fascinating.

What do you think of this project? Is it a good pairing of director and lead?