No sex in this movie ; this is a documentary focusing on the personality of Claudine Beccarie,one of the leading figures of mid-70s French porn production. By that time she had decided to stop performing in front of the cameras. Davy tries to draw a statement of how it was then to work in the pornographic business. He possibly was aware that something was changing, and that production means & ways of living and thinking would change the viewers' minds and the work in itself. In fact, the film, through the analysis of Beccarie's lives (sex life, family life, child life, life at the farm, and so on) draws the portrait of the era, with its clichés (intentionally maintained ?) and its good stuff -- which lies in fact in Claudine's charisma, since the girl's simplicity and honesty are just moving. By the way, she has such a nice voice ! ... Anyway, this film deserves a viewing in spite of its many weaknesses (the scenes with the young actors dealing with the so-much-talked-about "Is pornography a form of prostitution ?" and all that kind of stuff) because of the funny music and the spread-throughout smell of that so nice era -- the seventies. Just one example : Claudine speaking about Love and romantic life for a woman -- just essential matters -- holding closely a sweet rabbit in her arms. This may be the worst form of our French humor, in its own peculiar way.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Un fils
(2003)
Not my kind, BUT... (warning : possible SPOILERS)
24 June 2004
Warning: Spoilers
However this is absolutely NOT the kind of film-making I like and I make, the story is well conducted, and the film leads you to ask yourself some questions... That's not common in contemporary film-making, since directors get the habit of taking you for a fool (I mean, for instance : bursts of bogus music mean "cry" or "be afraid" or "oh ! now you should feel there is something funny, so please have a laugh"). In spite of some incoherent stuff (the relationship between father and son is well less explored than the rather sad professional life of Selim & Louise ; the circumstances leading to Selim's death are rather obscure), this short is a pleasant surprise. Having briefly met Amal during the post-production of this opus, I can now tell that it shows how clever that funny girl is and that if she was given a REAL budget for another movie it would certainly be worthy. Very nice acting from Isabelle Pichaud for a nice character too.
L'insolent
(1973)
A gem
24 June 2004
I think this is the best film Jean-Claude Roy ever made. It reminds fondly the Lautner-Audiard films of the late 60s-early 70s, with the same team of legendary actors : André Pousse, Georges Géret, Dalban, Philippe Clay... It's such a pleasure to see them together ! That film shouldn't be so underrated - in fact, I think it's simply completely unknown, and that's a real shame, because due to its cynicism, its cast, its humor and its music (Bernard Gérard stands here at the heaven of European funk-masters alongside with Piero Umiliani), it stands the comparison with Lautner's works, although it looks - and actually WAS - really cheaper. If you can, prefer the French version, for its clever dubbing of Henry Silva's voice (made by an American actor whose name I can't remember living at the time in Paris), because in English you don't have any equivalent to the inimitable voice of André Pousse.
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