The ties that bind

>> Sex reigns in François Ozon's new film

by SIOBHÀN O'CONNOR

A truly bizarre film, Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brùlantes, by French director François Ozon, is an intricate gender-bender about sex and manipulation. Inspired by the work of New German Cinema frontliner Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Goutes explores the unsettling sexual relationship between 19-year-old pretty boy, Franz (Malik Zidi), and the 50-something Léopold (Bernard Giraudeau).

Short on plot, the film stays true to Fassbinder's original work: it's an anecdotal look at a relationship where the characters are revealed through their idiosyncrasies--most of which are strange sexual quirks. While the relationship is complex, Ozon cuts through the bullshit: this bond is based on sex.

Set in '70s Berlin, the film opens with the awkward first conversation between Franz and Léo. We don't know where they've met, or how. All we know is that Franz is an artist. He reads poems. He still believes in the "power of the people" and true love. Léo, on the other hand, remains a mystery. He asks a lot of questions, which start out simply ("What do you study?") and get heavy, quick ("Do you want to fuck?"). In several highly subtle and erotic scenes, they happily act out their fantasies; but out of the sack their relationship quickly spirals into a twisted version of Pygmalion, with Léo trying to squeeze Franz into his mould.

All goes to shit in the final act when the luscious Véra (a transsexual who had the op for Léo) and Anna (Franz's perky-breasted fiancée) show up. What ensues is an orgiastic romp infused with jealousy and tragedy.

Ozon uses simple camerawork to create a truly claustrophobic aura. All five acts of the film are shot inside Léo's tacky four and a half, with no shortage of extreme closeups as the film gets more intense. It's an obvious device, to be sure, but one that works: what results is a sometimes-nauseating close encounter with two people you hope you'll never meet.

That Ozon never addresses the fact that this is a story about two men who like to do each other was a pleasant surprise. What could have easily fumbled into a sappy meditation on sexuality remains true to its goal. And Ozon's delicate treatment of the subject, punctuated by bits of black comedy, makes for a compelling, if uncomfortable, watch.

Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brùlantes opens Friday, Sept. 8