Max mon amour
1986 Comedy / Drama
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Credits
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Summary
Suspecting that his wife, Margaret, is having a secret love affair, Peter Jones, a British
ambassador in Paris, engages a private detective to investigate. The truth is more
than he can bear: for the past year, his wife has been having an affair with a circus
chimpanzee. Not sure how to deal with the situation, Peter persuades Margaret to
let the chimp stay with them in their chic Parisian apartment...
Review
A brave attempt to explore the possibility of amorous love between different species,
Max, mon amour just about manages to avoid being tacky or ridiculous, thanks mainly
to a typically no-nonsense performance from Charlotte Rampling. It was directed
by the acclaimed Japanese film-maker Nagisa Oshima, marking a radical departure from the
kind of films that have earned him his reputation. Good taste and the possibility
of severe censorship prevent anything involving bestial coupling from being shown on screen,
and so the film can only really function as a satire on bourgeois life. The absurdity
of an implausible situation is unfortunately always in the foreground and is, alas, something
which the lacklustre acting and somewhat bland comedy can scarcely conceal. However,
Rampling is impeccable and, as ever, gives great value for money. The same cannot
quite be said of the midget in the monkey suit...
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