Petits désordres amoureux
1998 Romance / Comedy / Drama
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Credits
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Summary
On a Parisian pavement café, a young intellectual, Alain, meets a stranger, Sophie,
and proceeds to tell her a most peculiar love story. It involves his best friend
and colleague, Lionel, who has a reputation as the office Don Juan. As a bet, Lionel
agrees to seduce a woman chosen at random by Alain, on condition that he does not make
love to her. Lionel is confident of winning the bet, but the woman he has to seduce,
Claire, turns out to be something of a raving nymphomaniac, a married woman who is more
interested in guilt-free sex than emotional involvement. When finally the two do
manage to get into bed, Lionel makes an astonishing admission. He is incapable of
making love…
Review
Olivier Péray makes an impressive directorial debut with this original, witty and
rather poignant romantic comedy. The film happily sets out to break a few
conventions – first in its ingenious narrative construction and then in its plot, which
boldly reverses the roles of a man and a woman in a tempestuous romantic liaison.
Traditionally, it’s the woman who submits to male dominance, usually after a considerable
amount of harrowing psychological arm-wrestling masquerading as foreplay. Here,
it’s the woman who has the upper hand, and boy does she intend to use it. Far from
being contrived, the film feels remarkably truthful and downright funny in some places
(the scene where the smouldering Claire comes onto Lionel with the subtlety of a juggernaut
mowing down a cyclist is utterly hilarious). The film may not be perfect – there
are noticeable flaws in the scripting, acting and direction – but it has a refreshing
lightness of touch which has been largely missing from French cinema since the early 1970s.
In his sensitive portrayal of a young man struggling (and apparently failing) to engage
his sexual drive, Bruno Putzulu is sympathetic and convincing, revealing an actor with
great talent, screen presence and charm.
© James Travers 2007 Write a review for this film... |
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