Cent francs l’amour (1986) - film review

A young artistic photographer Jérémy needs money to finance an exhibition of his work.  He turns to Maurice, a lonely bachelor who will do almost anything to buy Jérémy’s company.  When his relationship with his girlfriend starts to fall apart, the young photographer visits a peepshow and is at once struck by the beauty of one of the performers, Otie.  He uses the money Maurice gave him to pay for further visits to the sex shop...

With its bizarre bisexual love triangle and saucy eroticism, Cent francs l’amour was one of the most unusual French romantic comedies of the 1980s.   Although the plot is somewhat implausible, the film makes some intelligent observations on the nature of obsession and shows what lengths individuals are prepared to go to when hooked by the power of love.  Don’t be misled by the opening credit sequence, which gives the impression of a cheap piece of Emmanuelle-style erotica.

The film stars Pierre-Loup Rajot, one of the sexiest French male actors of the day, a fact which both director and cinematographer exploit to the full.  His co-star, Valérie Steffen, is not quite so impressive as an actress, but her Bardot-esque beauty makes her a convincing object of desire, and her peepshow sequences are the stuff of quality soft-core porn videos.  Alluring as these two actors are, the best performances are from Richard Bohringer and Dominique Pinon.  Bohringer’s restrained dramatic portrayal of a lonely middle-aged homosexual is full of pathos and bitterness, whilst Pinon is peculiarly convincing as the self-obsessed writer who turns to prostitution to make a quick buck.

© James Travers 2000

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