Sex Is Comedy
2002 Comedy / Drama / Romance
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Summary
Jeanne is a middle-aged film director who is having difficulty with her latest film,
a romantic drama entitled “Scènes intimes”. As the title suggests,
the film features a number of explicit love scenes, but, unfortunately for Jeanne, her
two lead actors are having difficulty playing these scenes…
Review
After a series of shocking romantic dramas, featuring some of the most sexually explicit
material to be made for mainstream cinema, Catherine Breillat made this curious pseudo-documentary
in which she attempts to demystify the process of shooting sex films. Whilst the
film is occasionally illuminating and sometimes very funny, it is marred by a sense of
navel-contemplating pretentiousness which becomes increasingly aggravating as the film
progresses. Breillat has been condemned for the way in which she portrays and degrades
men in her films, and this film, which diminishes a male actor to the mere wearer of an
oversized prosthetic penis, will presumably add more fuel to that particular prejudicial
fire. Anne Parillaud’s totally flat and uninspired performance doesn’t
help matters and creates a rather unfavourable impression of Breillat herself, since Parillaud
is evidently speaking with Breillat’s voice. The film has some entertainment
value, if viewed from a wry, ironic perspective, but it says surprisingly little about
the creative process or mechanics of making a film. A wasted opportunity.
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