La Confusion des genres (2000)
Directed by Ilan Duran Cohen

Film Review

In spite of its convoluted and implausible plot, La Confusion des genres is an engaging film which offers a perceptive and honest reflection on life, love and sexuality in the kind of totally liberated society in which we now live.   This intelligent and well-structured film features a talented cast of actors, including Pascal Greggory whose intense portrayal of the brooding Alain is to be particularly commended.

The way in which the film contrasts the attitudes of three different generations is interesting and show how our society has evolved over the past few decades.  Middle-aged Alain is paralysed with indecision as to how he should live his life in the face of such choice.  By contrast, the lives of the previous generation and the next generation appear far more straightforward.  Alain's parents were driven into marriage at an early age, by the conventions of the day, whilst today's young people merely live for the present and so have no choice to make.

Few films treat issues such as bisexuality and ambivalence towards marriage with such honesty, originality and sensitivity as this, and the characters in the film - however bizarre their love lives - are convincing, well-developed individuals.    The film's awkward use of comedy (such as the farcical wedding scene) slightly undermines its serious side but does add to its sly Gallic charm, increasing its entertainment value.

Film Synopsis

Alain, a man in his forties, is beginning to wish that his private life was as ordered and straightforward as his professional life as a lawyer.  At present, he is in a gay relationship with a younger man, Christophe, but he also enjoys the company of women and sometimes finds himself strongly attracted to them.  One such woman is Laurence, another lawyer in his firm, with whom he enjoys such a close relationship that they might almost be mistaken for an item.  One day, Alain and Laurence take the plunge and sleep together, although this merely convinces them both that they are not right for each other.  When Laurence finds herself pregnant not long afterwards, Alain has no choice but to marry her, knowing that he is the father of her unborn child.

By this time, Alain has fallen in love again - with one of his clients, a convicted murderer named Marc.  To make life more bearable for Marc, Alain goes out of his way to convince his emotonally unstable girlfriend, Babette, that she should pay regular visits to him in prison.  This makes matters even more complicated for the lawyer, as Babette mistakes Alain's intentions and falls hopelessly in love with him.  Now Alain finds himself in an impossible position, unsure whether he should leave his pregnant wife Laurence and hook up with Babette or return to his devoted lover Christophe.  Before he knows it, Alain finds he has a mid-life crisis of mind-blowing proportions, all because he can't help falling in love...