Romance Review
By Athan Bezaitis
Marie (Caroline Trousselard) is a depressed nymphomaniac school teacher stuck in a relationship in which she cannot arouse her lover. The whole story involves her searching throughout Paris for the fufillment that her asinine boyfriend denies her. She defiles her body in the process as she encounters different men who satisfy her deprived erotic needs. She is willing to take on everything and everybody: from a vile stranger on the her apartment stairway who prosteletyzes her for oral sex, to a dominating masochistic school principal, to porn star Rocco Siffredi (whose character admits he hasn't had sex in four months). Can you imagine what happens there?
The biggest problem with the film is not only its graphic (just about X-rated) nature, but its sluggish pace. Scenes are simply too long and dragged-out with nothing substantial occurring. Case in point: the four sexual encounters take about fifteen minutes each, and any adult can be spared the explicit details, which fail to add any critical meaning. If we didn't want a plot we could have rented one of Rocco's other films.
Even Rocco's biggest fans will be disappointed, because the blue movie titan fails to satisfy.
Then again, I have to know whether or not that scene was real. If not, there were some pretty amazing special effects...
X marks the spot.
Facts and Figures
Year: 1999
Run time: 84 mins
In Theaters: Wednesday 14th April 1999
Distributed by: Trimark Pictures
Production compaines: ARTE France Cinéma, Canal Plus, CB Films, Centre National de la Cinématographie, Procirep, Flach Films
Reviews
Contactmusic.com: 1 / 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 47%
Fresh: 15 Rotten: 17
IMDB: 5.3 / 10
Cast & Crew
Director: Catherine Breillat
Producer: Jean Francois-Lepetit
Screenwriter: Catherine Breillat
Starring: Caroline Ducey as Marie, Sagamore Stévenin as Paul, François Berléand as Robert, Rocco Siffredi as Paolo
Also starring: Caroline Trousselard, Sagamore Stevenin, Francoise Berleand, Jean Francois-Lepetit, Catherine Breillat