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Last bango in Paris >> Director Catherine Breillat on her truly messy Romance
by MATTHEW HAYS
And no small controversies, especially considering how much more laid back Euro-audiences seem to be. But Romance appeared to be rivaling Boogie Nights for the amount of press it was getting concerning its no-holds-barred depiction of sex. Again, the subject of all the talk was pornography; but while Boogie Nights focused on the industry itself, Romance has gained notoriety for blurring the line between mainstream moviemaking and porn. The film, which stars Caroline Ducey, depicts one woman's descent into sexual madness after repeated rejections from her live-in supermodel boyfriend. Ducey's performance is amazing, as she leaps from sexual misadventure to misadventure in various disastrous efforts to feel alive once more. Notably, Breillat cast Italian porn stud Rocco Siffredi as one of Ducey's flings. It's his scene which stands out--or up, rather--as he mounts Ducey for a rather outrageous sex sequence, which involves what must be the longest shot ever of male full-frontal nudity in a non-porn movie. The irony of Breillat taking heat for all this onscreen smut is great, considering she had a small supporting role in Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris, another film that shook up audiences with its frankness. Romance feels part Last Tango, part what the publicists were promising us Eyes Wide Shut would be: a seriously sexual film about someone who's decided to experiment with the boundaries of the Act. Breillat laughs when I call her feature Eyes Wide Shut With Teeth, but hasn't seen Kubrick's film, so can't compare the two. She does, however, note one rather major difference: unlike the late Kubrick, Breillat consciously shied away from using any big-name actors, meaning no star-like egos could dictate the style or content of the project. When Ducey and other members of the cast expressed unhappiness about working with porn star Siffredi, for example, Breillat simply said they could like it or lump it. "I told them it was all or nothing," Breillat says, with the steely determination of a dominatrix on plenty of caffeine. "They could either be in the film, as I wanted it, or not." Breillat became dumbfounded during the interviews for the French release of the film, when critics became obsessed with questions as to whether or not Ducey had really been penetrated by Siffredi's considerable member. "Can you imagine a director answering questions about whether or not tongues were exchanged during a kissing scene? People think of the French as so progressive. Really, they are repressed and conformist."
Romance opens Friday, October 1 |
Filmmaker Catherine Breillat was composed as she sat down to discuss her latest film, Romance, at the World Film Festival. Composed, but also a tad brittle. Breillat appeared to be trying not to seem too concerned about the controversies swirling around the film in her native France.