Anatomy of Hell Movie Review:


After the more intriguing subtlety of Sex Is Comedy, you'd think Breillat might go somewhere new with this examination of sexuality and gender. Alas, not only is this film deliberately shocking, yawningly plodding and almost mind-bogglingly pretentious, but its message is laid on with a trowel: Men are idiots.

There are two unnamed characters and a bunch of extras. The woman (Casar) is obviously troubled by something as she goes out to a gay nightclub and picks up a hunky gay man (Siffredi). From here, she gradually seduces him--like she wants to prove her sexual superiority and the fact that every gay man really wants to sleep with a woman. It's a long, creepy seduction (she pays him to be there) as she just lies down on a bed and confronts him with her superior feminine wiles.

At least that's how I interpreted it. The only thing that's certain is that Breillat thinks men are easily manipulated and only good for one thing. Surely a film examining this theme could say some profound, provocative things. But Breillat settles for what she clearly hopes is unsettling, explicit imagery. If you've never seen a porn film it might be shocking. Especially with Breillat's yucky little wrinkles, which I will not mention in case you've just eaten. Or had a cup of tea.

She also alienates us through the pacing and dialog; the film is a dull sequence of yabbering, pretentious Frenchness! They just talk aimlessly, with a corny poetic lyricism that elicits more giggles than knowing sighs. And Breillat's narration makes it feel like a misguided feminist fantasy. (Maybe the subtitles are bad?) There's also the problem of homosexuality--Breillat simply dismisses the man's sexuality completely. He is instantly attracted to the woman. Maybe this could happen in an isolated situation, but in the real world her random selection of a man in a gay club would have resulted in, well, nothing.



Rich Cline

 

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