Screened
Rotterdam International Film Festival
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- "Anatomie de l'enfer" is a film about sex that is not intended to be sexy. Directed by Catherine Breillat ("Romance") and featuring porn star Rocco Siffredi in a dramatic role, it's an investigation into the nature of misogyny. By putting her female character through a number of willing sexual humiliations at the hands (and more) of Siffredi, Breillat tries to show that misogyny is deeply rooted in the psyche of every man.
The numerous sex scenes with which Breillat makes her point are graphic and unpleasant. They certainly succeed as detailed examinations of misogynistic behavior, and the mentally -- but not sexually -- provocative nature of her argument should lead to some debate about the subject. But the explicit content of these scenes will mean that few people will likely see the film outside of festivals and some European countries. "Anatomie" had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
The film starts when the Girl (Amira Casar) meets the Guy (Siffredi) in a bar. He saves her from suicide, and she invites him to take part in a sexual experiment as a result. As the Guy is homosexual and has no interest in women, she feels that he is a perfect "control specimen" for her attempt to show that underneath it all, every man is a misogynist. Over the course of four nights, she allows him to perform a number of sexual indignities on her. He penetrates her with objects and degrades her. A final scene sees the Guy clarifying his misogynistic feelings to a lout in a bar, therefore proving the Girl's argument correct.
In "Anatomie", Breillat puts forth the argument that all men hate women because they think that they dissipate and take away their power. Men defend themselves against this, Breillat says, by humiliating women. The point is very well made but suffers from a cold academicism that renders the characters simple ciphers for Breillat's ideas. Her reductive approach to her characters -- by refusing to name them, for instance -- lessens the power of her argument as they have none of the foibles and contradictions of real people. This means that it's too easy to dismiss the whole film as an artificial construct, something that diminishes its impact.
Cinematically, Breillat has made some interesting decisions. The story would naturally suggest a grunge aesthetic, but Breillat does the opposite, using subtle lighting and often framing the Girl like a Manet painting. The Guy's voice-over is delivered in a female voice -- Breillat's own -- giving rise to all kinds of psychological interpretations. The sex scenes are messy, standing as the exact opposites to the scrubbed-clean images of pornography.
Some of the imagery in "Anatomie" -- shots of a rolling ocean, for instance -- pushes it precariously close to '70s art-porn. But the literary dialogue, possibly lifted from Breillat's own source novel "Pornocratie", keeps things sufficiently intelligent. Sex is often depicted in films but rarely examined by filmmakers. However flawed, Breillat's uncompromising attempt to do so here should be applauded.
Anatomie De L'Enfer
Flach Films and CB Films present, with the participation of Canal Plus and Le Center National de la Cinematographie
Credits:
Director: Catherine Breillat
Screenwriter: Catherine Breillat, from her novel "Pornocratie"
Producer: Jean-Francois Lepetit
Directors of photography: Yorgos Arvanitis, Guillaume Schiffman, Miguel Malheiros, Susana Gomes
Sound: Carlos Pinto, Filipe Goncalves
Production designers: Pedrosa Santos, Jean-Marie Milon, Paula Szabo, Pedro Garcia
Costume designers: Valerie Guegan, Betty Martins, Catherine Meillan, Sanine Schlumberger
Editors: Pascale Chavance, Frederic Barbe
Cast:
The Girl: Amira Casar
The Guy: Rocco Siffredi
Wateland Lovers: Alexandre Belin, Manuel Taglang
Barfly: Jacques Monge
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Rotterdam International Film Festival
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- "Anatomie de l'enfer" is a film about sex that is not intended to be sexy. Directed by Catherine Breillat ("Romance") and featuring porn star Rocco Siffredi in a dramatic role, it's an investigation into the nature of misogyny. By putting her female character through a number of willing sexual humiliations at the hands (and more) of Siffredi, Breillat tries to show that misogyny is deeply rooted in the psyche of every man.
The numerous sex scenes with which Breillat makes her point are graphic and unpleasant. They certainly succeed as detailed examinations of misogynistic behavior, and the mentally -- but not sexually -- provocative nature of her argument should lead to some debate about the subject. But the explicit content of these scenes will mean that few people will likely see the film outside of festivals and some European countries. "Anatomie" had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
The film starts when the Girl (Amira Casar) meets the Guy (Siffredi) in a bar. He saves her from suicide, and she invites him to take part in a sexual experiment as a result. As the Guy is homosexual and has no interest in women, she feels that he is a perfect "control specimen" for her attempt to show that underneath it all, every man is a misogynist. Over the course of four nights, she allows him to perform a number of sexual indignities on her. He penetrates her with objects and degrades her. A final scene sees the Guy clarifying his misogynistic feelings to a lout in a bar, therefore proving the Girl's argument correct.
In "Anatomie", Breillat puts forth the argument that all men hate women because they think that they dissipate and take away their power. Men defend themselves against this, Breillat says, by humiliating women. The point is very well made but suffers from a cold academicism that renders the characters simple ciphers for Breillat's ideas. Her reductive approach to her characters -- by refusing to name them, for instance -- lessens the power of her argument as they have none of the foibles and contradictions of real people. This means that it's too easy to dismiss the whole film as an artificial construct, something that diminishes its impact.
Cinematically, Breillat has made some interesting decisions. The story would naturally suggest a grunge aesthetic, but Breillat does the opposite, using subtle lighting and often framing the Girl like a Manet painting. The Guy's voice-over is delivered in a female voice -- Breillat's own -- giving rise to all kinds of psychological interpretations. The sex scenes are messy, standing as the exact opposites to the scrubbed-clean images of pornography.
Some of the imagery in "Anatomie" -- shots of a rolling ocean, for instance -- pushes it precariously close to '70s art-porn. But the literary dialogue, possibly lifted from Breillat's own source novel "Pornocratie", keeps things sufficiently intelligent. Sex is often depicted in films but rarely examined by filmmakers. However flawed, Breillat's uncompromising attempt to do so here should be applauded.
Anatomie De L'Enfer
Flach Films and CB Films present, with the participation of Canal Plus and Le Center National de la Cinematographie
Credits:
Director: Catherine Breillat
Screenwriter: Catherine Breillat, from her novel "Pornocratie"
Producer: Jean-Francois Lepetit
Directors of photography: Yorgos Arvanitis, Guillaume Schiffman, Miguel Malheiros, Susana Gomes
Sound: Carlos Pinto, Filipe Goncalves
Production designers: Pedrosa Santos, Jean-Marie Milon, Paula Szabo, Pedro Garcia
Costume designers: Valerie Guegan, Betty Martins, Catherine Meillan, Sanine Schlumberger
Editors: Pascale Chavance, Frederic Barbe
Cast:
The Girl: Amira Casar
The Guy: Rocco Siffredi
Wateland Lovers: Alexandre Belin, Manuel Taglang
Barfly: Jacques Monge
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Screened
Rotterdam International Film Festival
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- "Anatomie de l'enfer" is a film about sex that is not intended to be sexy. Directed by Catherine Breillat ("Romance") and featuring porn star Rocco Siffredi in a dramatic role, it's an investigation into the nature of misogyny. By putting her female character through a number of willing sexual humiliations at the hands (and more) of Siffredi, Breillat tries to show that misogyny is deeply rooted in the psyche of every man.
The numerous sex scenes with which Breillat makes her point are graphic and unpleasant. They certainly succeed as detailed examinations of misogynistic behavior, and the mentally -- but not sexually -- provocative nature of her argument should lead to some debate about the subject. But the explicit content of these scenes will mean that few people will likely see the film outside of festivals and some European countries. "Anatomie" had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
The film starts when the Girl (Amira Casar) meets the Guy (Siffredi) in a bar. He saves her from suicide, and she invites him to take part in a sexual experiment as a result. As the Guy is homosexual and has no interest in women, she feels that he is a perfect "control specimen" for her attempt to show that underneath it all, every man is a misogynist. Over the course of four nights, she allows him to perform a number of sexual indignities on her. He penetrates her with objects and degrades her. A final scene sees the Guy clarifying his misogynistic feelings to a lout in a bar, therefore proving the Girl's argument correct.
In "Anatomie", Breillat puts forth the argument that all men hate women because they think that they dissipate and take away their power. Men defend themselves against this, Breillat says, by humiliating women. The point is very well made but suffers from a cold academicism that renders the characters simple ciphers for Breillat's ideas. Her reductive approach to her characters -- by refusing to name them, for instance -- lessens the power of her argument as they have none of the foibles and contradictions of real people. This means that it's too easy to dismiss the whole film as an artificial construct, something that diminishes its impact.
Cinematically, Breillat has made some interesting decisions. The story would naturally suggest a grunge aesthetic, but Breillat does the opposite, using subtle lighting and often framing the Girl like a Manet painting. The Guy's voice-over is delivered in a female voice -- Breillat's own -- giving rise to all kinds of psychological interpretations. The sex scenes are messy, standing as the exact opposites to the scrubbed-clean images of pornography.
Some of the imagery in "Anatomie" -- shots of a rolling ocean, for instance -- pushes it precariously close to '70s art-porn. But the literary dialogue, possibly lifted from Breillat's own source novel "Pornocratie", keeps things sufficiently intelligent. Sex is often depicted in films but rarely examined by filmmakers. However flawed, Breillat's uncompromising attempt to do so here should be applauded.
Anatomie De L'Enfer
Flach Films and CB Films present, with the participation of Canal Plus and Le Center National de la Cinematographie
Credits:
Director: Catherine Breillat
Screenwriter: Catherine Breillat, from her novel "Pornocratie"
Producer: Jean-Francois Lepetit
Directors of photography: Yorgos Arvanitis, Guillaume Schiffman, Miguel Malheiros, Susana Gomes
Sound: Carlos Pinto, Filipe Goncalves
Production designers: Pedrosa Santos, Jean-Marie Milon, Paula Szabo, Pedro Garcia
Costume designers: Valerie Guegan, Betty Martins, Catherine Meillan, Sanine Schlumberger
Editors: Pascale Chavance, Frederic Barbe
Cast:
The Girl: Amira Casar
The Guy: Rocco Siffredi
Wateland Lovers: Alexandre Belin, Manuel Taglang
Barfly: Jacques Monge
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Rotterdam International Film Festival
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- "Anatomie de l'enfer" is a film about sex that is not intended to be sexy. Directed by Catherine Breillat ("Romance") and featuring porn star Rocco Siffredi in a dramatic role, it's an investigation into the nature of misogyny. By putting her female character through a number of willing sexual humiliations at the hands (and more) of Siffredi, Breillat tries to show that misogyny is deeply rooted in the psyche of every man.
The numerous sex scenes with which Breillat makes her point are graphic and unpleasant. They certainly succeed as detailed examinations of misogynistic behavior, and the mentally -- but not sexually -- provocative nature of her argument should lead to some debate about the subject. But the explicit content of these scenes will mean that few people will likely see the film outside of festivals and some European countries. "Anatomie" had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
The film starts when the Girl (Amira Casar) meets the Guy (Siffredi) in a bar. He saves her from suicide, and she invites him to take part in a sexual experiment as a result. As the Guy is homosexual and has no interest in women, she feels that he is a perfect "control specimen" for her attempt to show that underneath it all, every man is a misogynist. Over the course of four nights, she allows him to perform a number of sexual indignities on her. He penetrates her with objects and degrades her. A final scene sees the Guy clarifying his misogynistic feelings to a lout in a bar, therefore proving the Girl's argument correct.
In "Anatomie", Breillat puts forth the argument that all men hate women because they think that they dissipate and take away their power. Men defend themselves against this, Breillat says, by humiliating women. The point is very well made but suffers from a cold academicism that renders the characters simple ciphers for Breillat's ideas. Her reductive approach to her characters -- by refusing to name them, for instance -- lessens the power of her argument as they have none of the foibles and contradictions of real people. This means that it's too easy to dismiss the whole film as an artificial construct, something that diminishes its impact.
Cinematically, Breillat has made some interesting decisions. The story would naturally suggest a grunge aesthetic, but Breillat does the opposite, using subtle lighting and often framing the Girl like a Manet painting. The Guy's voice-over is delivered in a female voice -- Breillat's own -- giving rise to all kinds of psychological interpretations. The sex scenes are messy, standing as the exact opposites to the scrubbed-clean images of pornography.
Some of the imagery in "Anatomie" -- shots of a rolling ocean, for instance -- pushes it precariously close to '70s art-porn. But the literary dialogue, possibly lifted from Breillat's own source novel "Pornocratie", keeps things sufficiently intelligent. Sex is often depicted in films but rarely examined by filmmakers. However flawed, Breillat's uncompromising attempt to do so here should be applauded.
Anatomie De L'Enfer
Flach Films and CB Films present, with the participation of Canal Plus and Le Center National de la Cinematographie
Credits:
Director: Catherine Breillat
Screenwriter: Catherine Breillat, from her novel "Pornocratie"
Producer: Jean-Francois Lepetit
Directors of photography: Yorgos Arvanitis, Guillaume Schiffman, Miguel Malheiros, Susana Gomes
Sound: Carlos Pinto, Filipe Goncalves
Production designers: Pedrosa Santos, Jean-Marie Milon, Paula Szabo, Pedro Garcia
Costume designers: Valerie Guegan, Betty Martins, Catherine Meillan, Sanine Schlumberger
Editors: Pascale Chavance, Frederic Barbe
Cast:
The Girl: Amira Casar
The Guy: Rocco Siffredi
Wateland Lovers: Alexandre Belin, Manuel Taglang
Barfly: Jacques Monge
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/10/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.