À l'aventure (2009)
Directed by Jean-Claude Brisseau

Drama / Erotica

Film Review

Abstract picture representing A l'aventure (2009)
With À l'aventure, director Jean-Claude Brisseau concludes his provocative erotic trilogy, not so much with a bang as with an overly intellectualised analysis of female sexuality which makes an Open University lecture on quantum physics look like kindergarten stuff.  After Choses Secrètes (2002) and Les Anges exterminateurs (2006), Brisseau's latest attempt to enlighten us on the mysteries of sex looks suspiciously like a highbrow re-make of Just Jaeckin's Emmanuelle (1974).  By throwing in a few tonnes of pseudo-mystical posturing, Brisseau presumbly thought he could give his film at least a veneer of art house respectability and so prevent it from being marketed exclusively to the dirty mac brigade.   In fact, what is presented as a woman's search for sexual fulfilment outside the confines of bourgeois respectability is little more than a pretext for pornographic self-indulgence of the dullest kind.

Although Brisseau tries hard to make this more than just a high-blown piece of erotica he doesn't quite pull it off (so to speak).   The film's artistic flourishes (which include some appropriately moody location photography) are not enough to elevate it much beyond the level of tacky porno trash.   Had the characters been more than just bland caricatures with a morbid fascination for Sade the film might have stood some chance of looking less like smut for intellectuals and more like an honest exploration of human desire.   Far from breaching the sexual taboos as he intended, Brisseau merely reinforces one's prejudices against the erotic film, a deservedly reviled genre which, thanks to the internet, is now well and truly dead in the water.
© James Travers 2010
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.

Film Synopsis

Sandrine is bored with her comfortable middle-class existence in a dull provincial town.  Finally, tired of the daily rituals and the endless compromises that constrain her freedom, she leaves her home and her boyfriend and sets out in search of adventure.  She gets to know a young psychiatrist who happens to share her thirst for passion and self-fulfilment through the most intense sensual experiences...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: Jean-Claude Brisseau
  • Script: Jean-Claude Brisseau
  • Cinematographer: Wilfrid Sempé
  • Music: Jean Musy
  • Cast: Carole Brana (Sandrine), Arnaud Binard (Greg), Nadia Chibani (Mina), Lise Bellynck (Sophie), Etienne Chicot (L'homme sur le banc), Estelle Galarme (Françoise), Frédéric Aspisi (Jérôme), Jocelyn Quivrin (Fred), Michèle Larue (La mère de Sandrine)
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Support: Color
  • Runtime: 104 min

The greatest French film directors
sb-img-29
From Jean Renoir to François Truffaut, French cinema has no shortage of truly great filmmakers, each bringing a unique approach to the art of filmmaking.
Kafka's tortuous trial of love
sb-img-0
Franz Kafka's letters to his fiancée Felice Bauer not only reveal a soul in torment; they also give us a harrowing self-portrait of a man appalled by his own existence.
The brighter side of Franz Kafka
sb-img-1
In his letters to his friends and family, Franz Kafka gives us a rich self-portrait that is surprisingly upbeat, nor the angst-ridden soul we might expect.
The best of British film comedies
sb-img-15
British cinema excels in comedy, from the genius of Will Hay to the camp lunacy of the Carry Ons.
The Golden Age of French cinema
sb-img-11
Discover the best French films of the 1930s, a decade of cinematic delights...
 

Other things to look at


Copyright © filmsdefrance.com 1998-2024
All rights reserved



All content on this page is protected by copyright