Rue des plaisirs
2002 Drama / Romance
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Summary
One rainy night, three prostitutes pass the time whilst waiting for clients by recalling
the story of one of their former acquaintances. In 1945, Petit Louis works as a
handyman in the brothel where he was born and grew up. Love comes his way in the
form of Marion, a beautiful young woman who finds work in the brothel. Realising
that Marion cannot possibly love a man as plain as him, Petit Louis commits himself to
making her happy in other ways. He gets her to enter a singing competition on the
radio, which she wins, and then contrives to bring her together with her ideal man.
Marion’s happiness is short-lived when it turns out that her lover, Dimitri Josco,
is a petty crook who is being pursued by some vindictive gangsters...
Review
In Rue des plaisirs, director Patrice Leconte
brings some unusual narrative and cinematographic techniques to his familiar brand of
erotic romantic drama, presumably in an attempt to mask the lack of original conent in
the storyline. Whilst the film has the dark sensual texture of the director’s
earlier work – notably
Le Parfum d'Yvonne (1994) – it lacks
the force, conviction and emotional intensity of Leconte’s better films (
Monsieur Hire,
Le Mari de la coiffeuse, etc.). Part
of the problem is the cast – both Vincent Elbaz and supermodel Laetitia Casta have
some way to go before they can seriously merit lead roles in a film like this –
but the thing that really sinks the film is its script. No cliché is left
out in this langorous stereotype-saturated mélange of melodrama and film noir which
is so predictable that it’s like watching a cuddly baby seal being hacked to pieces
with a blunt knife in slow motion. Only the skill and inventiveness of Leconte and
his photography director prevent the spectator from losing interest in it. The main
reason for staying with the film is Patrick Timsit’s sympathetic and engaging performance,
which adds a touch of poetry and humanity to what would otherwise be a cold and passionless
piece of arty drama.
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