Une liaison pornographique (1999) - film review

A forty-something woman places an ad in a newspaper for someone who is prepared to share her sexual fantasy.  A man, of about her own age, replies and, after corresponding via Minitel, they finally meet up in a café.  They have barely had time to open a conversation before the woman suggests they go off to the hotel room she has already booked.  The man agrees.  They repeat this little ritual three or four times a month and then decide to make love "the normal way".  Despite their attempts to keep their relationship strictly sexual, it soon becomes clear that they have formed a bond of emotional attachment...

In Une liaison pornographique, Belgian director Frédéric Fonteyne set out to demonstrate how difficult it is for a couple to have a passionate sexual relationship without falling in love along the way.  Stylish and original in its minimalist cinematography and sparse dialogue, the film has that bleak existentialist perspective which is often a feature of unconventional French romantic dramas.  Compelling performances from Nathalie Baye and Sergi López somehow give the film a sense of humanity and touching realism which appears to be lacking in the script.  Generally, however, the film feels cold and not particularly engaging, so that, whilst it is a comparatively short film, it places great demands on the spectator.

© James Travers 2002

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