This is one French movie which I am pretty sure will not run through an American remake. It has all the elements that attract the intellectual European movie goer, and all what is rejected by the typical American viewer. It is a love story with two characters, almost everything happens in just two places (a restaurant and a hotel room), drama is based on characters development, and eroticism is all but explicit. It is a love story, but it departs the usual romantic comedy pattern and escapes the cheap happy end that spoils that many American movies. Acting is superb, and actually the best part in the film, though it is sometimes too static, more Russian or East European style than French. At the end, you are left with a simple story of un-realized love, the message being that the imposed limits of communication according to which the heros decided to play decide their ultimate faith, and the faith of their relationship. Not too much, but decent cinema if you like the style and genre. 8/10 on my personal scale.
51 Reviews
An adult examination of Love, of Sex, and how these two worlds sometime coincide.
bryant527 February 2001
A careful & thought-provoking examination of how two lives intersect.... and how the nature of that intersection defines and then changes the level of personal engagement. The film is compelling in its continual exploration of how we know ourselves, how we know each other...the lens & filters (real & imagined) through which we know the world. Both performances were exemplary...and the conversations (which drove the bulk of the film) remarkable for their seeming realism. (even with subtitles!)
Quite beautiful and touching
faraaj-15 November 2006
From its title, A Pornographic Affair might seem like the kind of film that might appeal to a 13-yr old boy just entering puberty. Its actually a very restrained and beautiful love story. The format of the narrative is in the form of interviews of Him and Her after the affair has ended. There is a mysterious fantasy which brought them together. We never find out, despite the interviewers repeated prodding, what that fantasy was that led Her to advertise and Him to read and respond to the advertisement.
Inevitably, the physical aspects of that fantasy don't matter because the two eventually move on to more conventional forms of sexual activity. Neither knows anything about the other - children, marital status, profession or age. Both are good people and inevitably the affair has to develop into something more. Both are charming and beautiful in their own way. Eventually they begin to like and be infatuated with each other.
Obviously, adult themes are explored in this film, but there is no gratuitous nudity or smut. It has a surprisingly human touch even though the route followed in a conventional relationship is inverted here.
Inevitably, the physical aspects of that fantasy don't matter because the two eventually move on to more conventional forms of sexual activity. Neither knows anything about the other - children, marital status, profession or age. Both are good people and inevitably the affair has to develop into something more. Both are charming and beautiful in their own way. Eventually they begin to like and be infatuated with each other.
Obviously, adult themes are explored in this film, but there is no gratuitous nudity or smut. It has a surprisingly human touch even though the route followed in a conventional relationship is inverted here.
love as the essence of nothing
Philby-316 July 2000
In the search for intimacy and meaning in the dehumanizing urban environment, quite personable, intelligent and attractive people have to resort to newspaper or online ads to meet someone for romance or just companionship. In this film, however, a man and woman, both attractive and personable, seek depersonalised sex, not involvement. Or so they thought. Of course they become emotionally involved, and then the question becomes: will they continue?
This is a very nicely judged piece using a combination of interview sequences intercut with flashbacks. There are no distractions: we focus almost entirely on Nathalie and Sergi as they are interviewed separately about their affair. Their versions are not identical but there is only one flashback version of each encounter so there is not a lot of confusion. The curious thing is that although intimacy develops it follows the rules of the original impersonal pornographic encounter no names, no talk about jobs and families and friends, no swapping of personal detail. They meet once or twice a week in the same coffee bar and hotel room for six months or more, yet still know virtually nothing about each other (apart from their sexual fantasies). Why this holding back? Neither is currently attached to anyone else. The only explanation is that they really didn't want to get involved, or don't want to take the risk. Burned before? Who knows?
Nathalie Baye as the (slightly older) woman is poised, charming and not obviously hung up about sex. She seeks the zipless f*** of feminist legend. She does have trouble expressing her feelings for her `I love you' are the hardest words in the language (all right, `Je t'aime'). Sergi Lopez as her homme de jour is a bit more emotionally expressive but still holds himself back.
I suppose one could see the film as suggesting that the alienation of modern life can be traced to an unwillingness to become emotionally attached, that life is faster and cleaner if relationships are disposable without much pain. These two want intimacy, but they don't want to pay for it.
It's a well-made movie with plenty of Parisian bustle and lots of nice close-ups. It's all a bit sad, though. Have we been reduced to being consumers of personal relationships as well as sex?
This is a very nicely judged piece using a combination of interview sequences intercut with flashbacks. There are no distractions: we focus almost entirely on Nathalie and Sergi as they are interviewed separately about their affair. Their versions are not identical but there is only one flashback version of each encounter so there is not a lot of confusion. The curious thing is that although intimacy develops it follows the rules of the original impersonal pornographic encounter no names, no talk about jobs and families and friends, no swapping of personal detail. They meet once or twice a week in the same coffee bar and hotel room for six months or more, yet still know virtually nothing about each other (apart from their sexual fantasies). Why this holding back? Neither is currently attached to anyone else. The only explanation is that they really didn't want to get involved, or don't want to take the risk. Burned before? Who knows?
Nathalie Baye as the (slightly older) woman is poised, charming and not obviously hung up about sex. She seeks the zipless f*** of feminist legend. She does have trouble expressing her feelings for her `I love you' are the hardest words in the language (all right, `Je t'aime'). Sergi Lopez as her homme de jour is a bit more emotionally expressive but still holds himself back.
I suppose one could see the film as suggesting that the alienation of modern life can be traced to an unwillingness to become emotionally attached, that life is faster and cleaner if relationships are disposable without much pain. These two want intimacy, but they don't want to pay for it.
It's a well-made movie with plenty of Parisian bustle and lots of nice close-ups. It's all a bit sad, though. Have we been reduced to being consumers of personal relationships as well as sex?
The epitome of a certain kind of European movie
allyjack13 September 1999
An unnamed man and woman find each other through the personal ads of a sex magazine, to engage in a pornographic act that forms their mutual fantasy (the camera, old-Hollywood style, lingers in the hotel corridor during the act itself). They meet again; and again. They start to get to know and like each other. They make normal love. Maybe they'll have a normal relationship. But the film continually reminds us of the proximity of the crowd, within which they might blur back into being strangers; of the beguilingly complex topography of relationships (you feel the emotional landscape as electrically as you feel her finger trace the contours of his face and back in one scene); of the possibility for devastatingly wrong moves even amid the most enveloping intimacy; of the inevitability that even our profoundest memories will erode; of the relationship between the experience and the interpretation of an event. This is the epitome of a concise, elegant, sensitively written and acted European film; not designed to move an artistic mountain, but a certain crowd-pleaser.
Honest and Realistic
itamarscomix21 August 2012
Une Liaison Pornographique (A Pornographic Affair - please disregard the awful title 'An Affair of Love', which shows that the distributors either didn't watch the movie or didn't pay attention) is one of the most earnest, most naturalistic portrayals I've seen on film of a sexual relationship, and in that respect it's much more successful than English-speaking films (American and otherwise) that tried for something similar - films like Better Than Sex and Strictly Sexual, which attempted to shed Hollywood's romantic vision of sex, but ended up adhering to it anyway. As the female lead in Une Liaison Pornographique says in one of the film's key lines, sex in movies is either heaven or hell, but in real life it's usually somewhere in-between. The film shows that in-between with brutal honesty, neither idealizing it nor demonizing it, and manages a touching, frustrating, bleak portrayal of a subject that is at the heart of human nature and yet so difficult to handle in film.
Unfortunately, the refreshing realism and honesty, and the naturalistic performance of the two leads, aren't quite enough to make for a great film; the script just isn't good enough. The film is too short, not taking enough time to fully explore the relationship between the two leads, and yet it also feels excruciatingly long - large chunks of it are just not interesting enough. In the end it turn out to be a pretty frustrating and unfulfilling experience - partly intentional, to be sure, but that isn't quite enough to help overcome that feeling of dissatisfaction. I can't help but recommend the film for its stronger aspects, despite the fact that I can't honestly say I enjoyed it; and I can't shake the feeling that it could have been much better than it is.
Unfortunately, the refreshing realism and honesty, and the naturalistic performance of the two leads, aren't quite enough to make for a great film; the script just isn't good enough. The film is too short, not taking enough time to fully explore the relationship between the two leads, and yet it also feels excruciatingly long - large chunks of it are just not interesting enough. In the end it turn out to be a pretty frustrating and unfulfilling experience - partly intentional, to be sure, but that isn't quite enough to help overcome that feeling of dissatisfaction. I can't help but recommend the film for its stronger aspects, despite the fact that I can't honestly say I enjoyed it; and I can't shake the feeling that it could have been much better than it is.
Sublime acting
katchita29 December 2003
This little movie is simply sublime. I ran across it again when searching for more Sergi Lopez films. His range is simply amazing, from sensitive fantasy lover (as in this film) to the most dastardly twisted villain. I would be hard-pressed to think of any more talented male actor in European film today. I particularly liked him in "Dirty Pretty Things", due to its serious, thoughtful treatment of the pressures on immigrants. "A Friend Like Harry" was just great entertainment, humor of the darkest sort.
"Une Liason Pornografique" is still another type of film altogether. The French produce many interesting films on sex, some successful, some less so. This is of the best I can recall from my own 20-year love affair with European art films. Another recent French film that I can whole-heartedly recommend is Coline Serreau's Chaos, which took several years to cross the ocean to the U.S., but was originally released in 2001. Also Chocolat by Claire Denys, another quiet but piercingly accurate character study.
"Une Liason Pornografique" is still another type of film altogether. The French produce many interesting films on sex, some successful, some less so. This is of the best I can recall from my own 20-year love affair with European art films. Another recent French film that I can whole-heartedly recommend is Coline Serreau's Chaos, which took several years to cross the ocean to the U.S., but was originally released in 2001. Also Chocolat by Claire Denys, another quiet but piercingly accurate character study.
Over rated.
=G=24 January 2001
"Affair.." is a technically and artistically well crafted film about an affair between an middle-aged couple who meet online and subsequently, at regular intervals, in a cafe where, after some chit-chat, they go off to a hotel for the physical activity. Most of what happens sexually in this sanitized film is behind closed doors and the audience is left to speculate. Their past and who they really are remains a mystery as well. In short we are never allowed to become involved with them in any way other than as voyeurs watching them analyze their feelings as they try to figure out if they are falling in love while leaving us with a feeling of detachment....outsiders looking in with the real story just beyond our reach as the film serves up one bit of story at a time all the way to its anticlimactic conclusion. For some the enigmatic nature of the film will be enough. For others the film will prove tedious.
French without tears, sex without fears...
Svengali-200131 July 2003
It is not a perfect film, it has flaws, the most obvious being the pseudo psycho babble that could have been achieved with greater effect by having said less, but having said it better. It is a romance, it is romantic, it is sexy, and it is a slice of life, their lives, a small part that keeps the rest of their lives from being without charm. There is no need to contemplate the past or their futures but the moments that make the present happiness complete. The film proves that sex between mature adults can be beautiful, and not bound by the petty mores of witless societies that demand sex take place between pnuematically enhanced teenagers and souless males who would not understand the rhythms of sex without a street directory. Nathalie Baye was 51 when she made this film and has an attractive body, but she has a great way of making herself erotically desirable. Any person that has never laughed, joked or cried during sex has not had much good sex. It is the casual and caring ease between the leads that demonstrates how sex can be imtimate and romantic and caring. The people who call this movie cold have looked at it from the director's eyes and have failed to capture the warmth of the two leads. The title, I think is in the French style of ironic (a word missing from the American dictionary) rather than the British sense of the word. While the British treat irony like a Shakespearean tragedy the French equate it more with the "little death" and regard it more as humour tainted with pathos. The French idea of tragedy is to leave the ending out of movies, but perhaps I am over using irony here. If you have 80 minutes to spare to think about the relationships in your own life, then this little movie just might help you explore your own heart a little more. And remember a movie without flaws is called, "Looney Tunes."
This is a good movie that could have been a great film with a better script
butchfilms27 October 2008
"Une liaison pornographique" is a entertaining movie, but its beginning promises much more of what it finally delivers.
I liked the performances of Nathalie Baye and Sergi López, and the topic of the movie but I think with a better script this would have been a great movie.
The plot of the movie is about two people Nathalie Baye and Sergi López who meet frequently only to have sex without knowing anything else about each other like the name, profession, phone number, address etc. During the movie we can see to each one of them talking to the camera about what they thought about this kind of relationship that they had.
I liked the performances of Nathalie Baye and Sergi López, and the topic of the movie but I think with a better script this would have been a great movie.
The plot of the movie is about two people Nathalie Baye and Sergi López who meet frequently only to have sex without knowing anything else about each other like the name, profession, phone number, address etc. During the movie we can see to each one of them talking to the camera about what they thought about this kind of relationship that they had.
Pretentious, and forgettable, drivel
wjfickling8 September 2000
Sorry, but this is the kind of movie that pushes my buttons. This film takes itself very seriously and seems to think it is making a profound statement about something: men and women, relationships, love, sex--who knows what?--when in fact it dares and says nothing.
I won't rehash the plot, but I will make a few points about its illogicality and lack of believability. We have two people who are sneaking around, meeting clandestinely very much like two married people having an affair, although they both appear to be unattached. Why, then, the secrecy, and why does neither do more than hint at breaching their cloak of anonymity. Secondly, what sexual practice could be so unusual that it couldn't be talked about and would cause the man to say he would rather die than reveal it? After all, there are only so many things people can do, and both of these people seem reasonably experienced. This alleged sexual practice is only a gimmick to start the story going. And finally, where else but in the movies do people make love with sheets draped over them? It was the actress who presumable did not want to display her body. Fine, that is her right, but then why do a sex scene?
I'll stop here, but don't waste your time or money on this one.
I won't rehash the plot, but I will make a few points about its illogicality and lack of believability. We have two people who are sneaking around, meeting clandestinely very much like two married people having an affair, although they both appear to be unattached. Why, then, the secrecy, and why does neither do more than hint at breaching their cloak of anonymity. Secondly, what sexual practice could be so unusual that it couldn't be talked about and would cause the man to say he would rather die than reveal it? After all, there are only so many things people can do, and both of these people seem reasonably experienced. This alleged sexual practice is only a gimmick to start the story going. And finally, where else but in the movies do people make love with sheets draped over them? It was the actress who presumable did not want to display her body. Fine, that is her right, but then why do a sex scene?
I'll stop here, but don't waste your time or money on this one.
Incredible
RhiannaDraikaina16 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
The story of a romance between two people - no names, no lives, only each other and the time they had together.
It's beautiful. It's one of those movies that stabs at your heart every now and then. You know what you want to happen, but at the same time, you know it won't. I love Natalie Baye and Sergi Lopez. Both actors are incredible in their own rights and wonderful together. The characters that they helped create only further that.
I love how there are no names, no phone numbers, no address. There's only each other and that room. As the viewer, we don't even get to see what happens in that room, except for the more normal scenes. At the end of the movie, I can't help but wonder... what happened in that room and I watch it over and over to find out what happens and I never do. If anyone does, let me know. I'm still dying to find out.
At the end of the movie, anyone who's seen it, knows it ends with an unhappy ending, but I can't help but think it will end differently. I always watch it and wait, hoping for something I know won't happen. It makes it end all the more beautifully, despite the fact that I still think in my twisted little head that perhaps the 'behind the scenes' guys gave them their phone numbers and names and they ended up together. Of course, when I know that my version didn't go as planned, I feel a deep sorrow. It's like two of my best friends breaking up and ruining everyone's lives...
Of course, everything makes it all the more beautiful.
I also love the way that the movie is brought out. It's a fictional movie with fictional characters presented as a documentary.
It's beautiful. It's one of those movies that stabs at your heart every now and then. You know what you want to happen, but at the same time, you know it won't. I love Natalie Baye and Sergi Lopez. Both actors are incredible in their own rights and wonderful together. The characters that they helped create only further that.
I love how there are no names, no phone numbers, no address. There's only each other and that room. As the viewer, we don't even get to see what happens in that room, except for the more normal scenes. At the end of the movie, I can't help but wonder... what happened in that room and I watch it over and over to find out what happens and I never do. If anyone does, let me know. I'm still dying to find out.
At the end of the movie, anyone who's seen it, knows it ends with an unhappy ending, but I can't help but think it will end differently. I always watch it and wait, hoping for something I know won't happen. It makes it end all the more beautifully, despite the fact that I still think in my twisted little head that perhaps the 'behind the scenes' guys gave them their phone numbers and names and they ended up together. Of course, when I know that my version didn't go as planned, I feel a deep sorrow. It's like two of my best friends breaking up and ruining everyone's lives...
Of course, everything makes it all the more beautiful.
I also love the way that the movie is brought out. It's a fictional movie with fictional characters presented as a documentary.
A slight affair
paul2001sw-12 July 2007
Frerick Fonteyne's 'Une Liason Pornagrahique' is a brief, but very French film, with a stylish female protagonist, and lots of talking about sex. We see the story of a couple's relationship; they also recount their own recollections of it, which interestingly, do not always agree, though the film itself never settles their differences. But it's an essential part of the relationship that both partners go into the affair with a deliberate reserve; and although that coolness melts over time, the viewer is never allowed to get close enough to really care about either one. It's not badly executed, but I never felt truly involved.
unconvincing sex
bobbie-1217 September 2001
My tag line says it all--the plot is OK, the actors are attractive and intelligent, but it didn't work for me--their sexual encounter was unconvincing, too "talky," and not intensely erotic--so the rest of the movie also seemed too cerebral and distant.
Bitter sweet exploration
wisewebwoman29 July 2000
An ad in the paper with a specific sexual fantasy asked for. A meeting of 2 strangers, who remain so both to us and to each other. A subtle deepening of feelings for each other...this movie is so delicate it is like gossamer. Nuances of looks, smiles, movement. "Elle" winds up a little harder, "lui" a little softer. I was spellbound by it. Recommend it to those who like their movies to stay with them for a while. Great acting and direction.
it had potential
postmanwhoalwaysringstwice26 February 2007
Sometimes it seems that only the Europeans can get away with making a film as surface simple as "An Affair of Love" (AKA "Une Liaison Pornographique"). It tells the story of a woman and a man who meet for sex through a personal ad. Week after week they meet in a coffee shop then hike down the street to a hotel. It's got a certain "Last Tango in Paris" kind of flavor, with the sex-only connection between two otherwise mysterious characters being the most obvious core. Unlike that film "An Affair of Love" only briefly conveys any on screen sex, and tiptoes around it in dialogue. What really makes this film so European, though, is how it's told through flashback via an unexplained and unnecessary interview. It's a character-driven, reasonably romantic film that feels made by deft filmmakers, but a forced second act dramatic twist ruins its impact.
"Intimacy" was better than this...
rainking_es27 September 2006
In a few years they made two movies that had similar plots: "Intimacy" and this "A Liason Pornographique". A man and a woman meet once in a week for one simple reason: to have sex. No love, no feelings... just sex. "Intimacy" was more pessimistic and dark, and maybe "A Lisaon" is more frivolous and absurd, and it looks more like a romantic comedy. Also the narration is pretty artificial: a fake interview with the main characters and a series of flashbacks.
It's a pretty nice reflection on how much we complicate things such as love or sex. It's been filmed in a modern style and it has a "trance" soundtrack that it will sound old fashioned in a few years.
*My rate: 6/10
It's a pretty nice reflection on how much we complicate things such as love or sex. It's been filmed in a modern style and it has a "trance" soundtrack that it will sound old fashioned in a few years.
*My rate: 6/10
It was an act of love...
tintin-2311 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Notwithstanding their national origins, Belgium director Frédéric Fonteyne and Iranian scenarist Philippe Blasband have managed to create the quintessential French film: a film created for adults, with a theme to match, unusual maybe, but still taken out of "real" life, psychological, philosophical and challenging to the viewer. Fonteyne, in spite of his young age (born in 1968), speaks about love and feelings with great maturity. He mystifies the viewer with his approach to modern sexuality.
Blasband's scenario presents his love story "upside-down." Starting from a fantasy, which will eventually end up in love, he surrounds the slow but inevitable drift of the protagonists' feelings for each other. Refined, with simple and subtle dialogue, he facilitated enormously the director's work. The two characters recount to a third party, with emotion and an air of propriety, the passion that they were unable either to control or to really confess to each other. We know that their experiment was a failure, because from the outset, their testimonies indicate that they are apart. But the way each talks about "the other" makes us want to discover this "other." We would like to get involved in their story, know their pasts, their presents, and understand why they speak about the "other" with so much nostalgia. They will never know each other's names, their ages, professions. What they do after their trysts, we'll never know, either.
The rhythm and content of the story is controlled by the two protagonists who refuse to disclose the nature of their fantasy, allowing the director to impose upon the viewer the role of voyeur by limiting the viewer's space to that of the fantasy never revealed. Actually, the word "pornographique" in the original title, "Une Affaire Pornographique," is a joke, as there is nothing pornographic about this film. Unfortunately, the American title denies Fonteyne's intention to fully condition, right from the start, the viewer's state of mind. Each time the camera in the red hotel hallway bumps against the closed door of room 118, it renews and heightens the voyeur-viewer's interest. This contrasts sharply with the only time the camera penetrates in the lovers' blue room to witness a banal love scene, which in fact leaves the viewer even more bewildered as to the nature of the fantasy.
The success of this film rests entirely on the flawless acting of Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez. These two actors developed chemistry, which is the undeniable sign of mature artists. Their interaction is totally genuine in their exchanges, both verbal and unspoken. We can read on her face the birth of her love for "He": she wants to be happy next to this man, this one and none other. "He" drinks cognac and dips sugar cubes into it while undressing her with his eyes. We can tell that this man knows how to love women, mixing tenderness with desire. There are also their gestures: "Her" expressing herself with her hands, admitting her need to always talk, even during love-making. "He" is reserved, observant, always answering her many questions.
The camera movements often consist of static shots on the two characters, in medium-close shots and close shots, contributing further to the viewer's probing into the two characters psyches.
The original film score is some electronic music, unfortunately up to now unavailable on CD, by André Dziezuk, Marc Mergen, and Jeannot Sanavia. When the credits are rolling, one hears a downtempo/trip-hop, drum and bass music, which recalls Funki Porcini. It all fits perfectly with this unreal situation.
The main theme of this film is boundaries and their perilous crossings. At the beginning of the film, "She" is within her own world, inside her own boundary. This is symbolically represented during the opening as a crowd of pedestrians seen from her point of view, out of focus. "She" has a sexual fantasy, but in order to satisfy it, she will have to cross the first boundary, one set by society. Her fantasy cannot be fulfilled with members of her own entourage, husband, or intimate friends. For this, "She" must look beyond the boundaries of socially accepted behavior, to a stranger. As both meet, they will be beyond society's boundaries in their fantasy world. This accomplished, they breach another boundary when feelings develop: the boundary fixed by love. A whole new world appears to them, a totally unexpected world. Finally, there are the boundaries of understanding and commitment, which they are unable to cross, for previously mentioned reasons. At the very end of the film, we see again a crowd of pedestrians out of focus: she is back within the confines of her own boundary.
Fonteyne shows us a modern society where sex is no longer taboo, but love is becoming such. He never moralizes or resolves these apparent contradictions, but instead brings them into harmony as never done before him: the modern world denying love and the Judeo-Christian world negating sexuality. In the process, Fonteyne destroys the actuation of the fantasy and reinstates it in the secret, in the intimacy, both personal and private of the viewer.
Finally, the film tackles another great theme in the relationship between man and woman: the incommunicability. The fears that each feels: the fear of love, the fear of confessing the love one bears for the other to the other, the fear of appearing ridiculous, the fear that the feeling may not be reciprocated or has not progressed as rapidly in the other. The final scene at the café reveals and underscores a cruel, intense moment, the like of which I do not remember having ever witnessed in any film before. Very little is actually said, as most of the dialogue is in individual voice-overs. All the walls come crashing down on one woman and one man who, by all accounts, we judge were meant to be united for life. And this failure in a relationship which we were starting to take for granted is due to their incapacity to communicate.
Blasband's scenario presents his love story "upside-down." Starting from a fantasy, which will eventually end up in love, he surrounds the slow but inevitable drift of the protagonists' feelings for each other. Refined, with simple and subtle dialogue, he facilitated enormously the director's work. The two characters recount to a third party, with emotion and an air of propriety, the passion that they were unable either to control or to really confess to each other. We know that their experiment was a failure, because from the outset, their testimonies indicate that they are apart. But the way each talks about "the other" makes us want to discover this "other." We would like to get involved in their story, know their pasts, their presents, and understand why they speak about the "other" with so much nostalgia. They will never know each other's names, their ages, professions. What they do after their trysts, we'll never know, either.
The rhythm and content of the story is controlled by the two protagonists who refuse to disclose the nature of their fantasy, allowing the director to impose upon the viewer the role of voyeur by limiting the viewer's space to that of the fantasy never revealed. Actually, the word "pornographique" in the original title, "Une Affaire Pornographique," is a joke, as there is nothing pornographic about this film. Unfortunately, the American title denies Fonteyne's intention to fully condition, right from the start, the viewer's state of mind. Each time the camera in the red hotel hallway bumps against the closed door of room 118, it renews and heightens the voyeur-viewer's interest. This contrasts sharply with the only time the camera penetrates in the lovers' blue room to witness a banal love scene, which in fact leaves the viewer even more bewildered as to the nature of the fantasy.
The success of this film rests entirely on the flawless acting of Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez. These two actors developed chemistry, which is the undeniable sign of mature artists. Their interaction is totally genuine in their exchanges, both verbal and unspoken. We can read on her face the birth of her love for "He": she wants to be happy next to this man, this one and none other. "He" drinks cognac and dips sugar cubes into it while undressing her with his eyes. We can tell that this man knows how to love women, mixing tenderness with desire. There are also their gestures: "Her" expressing herself with her hands, admitting her need to always talk, even during love-making. "He" is reserved, observant, always answering her many questions.
The camera movements often consist of static shots on the two characters, in medium-close shots and close shots, contributing further to the viewer's probing into the two characters psyches.
The original film score is some electronic music, unfortunately up to now unavailable on CD, by André Dziezuk, Marc Mergen, and Jeannot Sanavia. When the credits are rolling, one hears a downtempo/trip-hop, drum and bass music, which recalls Funki Porcini. It all fits perfectly with this unreal situation.
The main theme of this film is boundaries and their perilous crossings. At the beginning of the film, "She" is within her own world, inside her own boundary. This is symbolically represented during the opening as a crowd of pedestrians seen from her point of view, out of focus. "She" has a sexual fantasy, but in order to satisfy it, she will have to cross the first boundary, one set by society. Her fantasy cannot be fulfilled with members of her own entourage, husband, or intimate friends. For this, "She" must look beyond the boundaries of socially accepted behavior, to a stranger. As both meet, they will be beyond society's boundaries in their fantasy world. This accomplished, they breach another boundary when feelings develop: the boundary fixed by love. A whole new world appears to them, a totally unexpected world. Finally, there are the boundaries of understanding and commitment, which they are unable to cross, for previously mentioned reasons. At the very end of the film, we see again a crowd of pedestrians out of focus: she is back within the confines of her own boundary.
Fonteyne shows us a modern society where sex is no longer taboo, but love is becoming such. He never moralizes or resolves these apparent contradictions, but instead brings them into harmony as never done before him: the modern world denying love and the Judeo-Christian world negating sexuality. In the process, Fonteyne destroys the actuation of the fantasy and reinstates it in the secret, in the intimacy, both personal and private of the viewer.
Finally, the film tackles another great theme in the relationship between man and woman: the incommunicability. The fears that each feels: the fear of love, the fear of confessing the love one bears for the other to the other, the fear of appearing ridiculous, the fear that the feeling may not be reciprocated or has not progressed as rapidly in the other. The final scene at the café reveals and underscores a cruel, intense moment, the like of which I do not remember having ever witnessed in any film before. Very little is actually said, as most of the dialogue is in individual voice-overs. All the walls come crashing down on one woman and one man who, by all accounts, we judge were meant to be united for life. And this failure in a relationship which we were starting to take for granted is due to their incapacity to communicate.
I highly recommend this movie
Julie-42820 January 2002
I grabbed this video from Blockbuster not knowing until I got home that it was subtitled. I watched the French version with English subtitles. This movie was done so tasteful. What went on between the two characters behind closed doors goes as far as the viewers imagination. In this day and age when people resort more to meeting thru personal ads and online - this is a movie that shows what we are all looking for......that one passionate relationship where two people truly connect on a very deep level. I fell in love with Sergio Lopez and have become a huge fan!
A few fries short of a happy meal.
sitenoise28 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
A cute, yes cute, 40ish French couple recount the stages of their pornographic affair to an interviewer. I say cute because most of the acting they both did was thoughtful, sincere reflection, and I thought they were cute doing it.
BIG SPOILER: We are never told nor shown what kind of kinky sex constituted the affair. Instead, the focus is on how they come to really like one another and then tragically decide to stop seeing one another.
Even though I liked the characters I think the film was a cheap tease and tried to pull on the heartstrings too much. I don't know what the goal was for the film and the ride by itself wasn't good enough to compensate. It was neither erotic nor sexy, and for a 'talkie' film it had a little too much yardage between the goal posts.
BIG SPOILER: We are never told nor shown what kind of kinky sex constituted the affair. Instead, the focus is on how they come to really like one another and then tragically decide to stop seeing one another.
Even though I liked the characters I think the film was a cheap tease and tried to pull on the heartstrings too much. I don't know what the goal was for the film and the ride by itself wasn't good enough to compensate. It was neither erotic nor sexy, and for a 'talkie' film it had a little too much yardage between the goal posts.
A Scheama of Everyone's Fantasy
dea_david774 September 2006
A movie about all of us - what we dream of doing, do for real or envy others who do it. The mere meetings of the couple are the fantasy. It's an everyday matter to experience a blind date, but it's a one-to-a thousand chance that it will be so perfect. Its perfection makes the ending so tragic. I was to a great extent shocked by the anonymity, in which the couple exists. And how can "he" realize that he doesn't know neither her name, nor her telephone numbler, nor ...anything, after so many months of regular closeness?! This movie definitely moved me with the simplicity of the story and the tragedy of human misunderstanding. Again, I was fascinated by the beauty of European films.
A One Set Stage Play
East2815 May 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The characters were great and well cast. The subject is all too real. But to make it the way they did was a waste of film. It should have been done as a limited cast play with one set, one café table, a hotel bed and a street lamp. The unspeakable sex act is pure Alfred Hitchcock and his "Magubgub" (?), the off stage, undefinable object that is never to be revealed. The interviewer is completely gratuitous and could have easily be handled in the modern way that many television interviews are handled, without an interviewers voice. I would add one very large sheet to the play set as the pseudo-sex scenes need to be portrayed in the modern neo-Victorian manner - painfully tasteful, non-gratuitously, part of the plot - thus keeping the censorious "R" rating in America.
A Casual Sexual Encounter Turns Surprisingly Romantic
gregorybnyc5 December 2004
Her (Nathalie Baye) places an ad in a magazine looking for a sexual partner to share her fantasy. He (Sergi Lopez) responds. They meet in a bistro on a gray afternoon in Paris and proceed to a nearby hotel. Their coupling is very
satisfactory to them and they proceed to other encounters. All this is told in flashback with both speaking separately, and wistfully about what happened
and how it ended.
This is a fascinating story, appealingly told with sureness by director Frederic Foteyne and his attractive, expressive leads. Yes, their affair is casual, sexual and without the usual "meeting cute" baggage. Actually, I thought she was the engine that began and ended the affair. Lopez's character seems to be far more emotionally involved as the affair progress than Baye's. He responds to her
responding to him and you can see him falling for her. Her speech to him about her feelings is quite startling and you think, maybe he's going to seek her
commitment.
A happy ending, though this is not one of those silly tearjerkers where you sit there embarrassed, would have been wrong and it's very satisfying. I loved this small, quiet, movie. The sex is very discreet. The dialoge is direct and thank goodness this is not a wordy movie. It doesn't need it. It's got a very good director in control of his material and two fine leads who tell you all you need to know.
I just discovered Sergi Lopez was the villain in DIRTY PRETTY THINGS. He's a terrific screen presence.
Someone mentioned CHAOS (in connection with their review of this film),
another French film I recently discovered. Two more mature, well-written, well- acted and directed films could not be imagined. Highly recommended.
satisfactory to them and they proceed to other encounters. All this is told in flashback with both speaking separately, and wistfully about what happened
and how it ended.
This is a fascinating story, appealingly told with sureness by director Frederic Foteyne and his attractive, expressive leads. Yes, their affair is casual, sexual and without the usual "meeting cute" baggage. Actually, I thought she was the engine that began and ended the affair. Lopez's character seems to be far more emotionally involved as the affair progress than Baye's. He responds to her
responding to him and you can see him falling for her. Her speech to him about her feelings is quite startling and you think, maybe he's going to seek her
commitment.
A happy ending, though this is not one of those silly tearjerkers where you sit there embarrassed, would have been wrong and it's very satisfying. I loved this small, quiet, movie. The sex is very discreet. The dialoge is direct and thank goodness this is not a wordy movie. It doesn't need it. It's got a very good director in control of his material and two fine leads who tell you all you need to know.
I just discovered Sergi Lopez was the villain in DIRTY PRETTY THINGS. He's a terrific screen presence.
Someone mentioned CHAOS (in connection with their review of this film),
another French film I recently discovered. Two more mature, well-written, well- acted and directed films could not be imagined. Highly recommended.
Humans CAN be beautiful, and not just on the surface.
ccovert124 May 2006
The beauty of this film shocked me, and I will always remember it.
The entire situation pulled me in right away, and "she," "he," and the interviewer unraveled what turned out to be a love story. The sex between them was gorgeous, powerful, loving, and unapologetic. I love how the interviewer, no matter how he tried to siphon the details of the sex from the man and the woman, just could not ever get his "dirt," so to speak. They couldn't give him that, because it was not ABOUT that.
This is a work of art, and I am grateful to have seen it, to have felt it. -Cindy
The entire situation pulled me in right away, and "she," "he," and the interviewer unraveled what turned out to be a love story. The sex between them was gorgeous, powerful, loving, and unapologetic. I love how the interviewer, no matter how he tried to siphon the details of the sex from the man and the woman, just could not ever get his "dirt," so to speak. They couldn't give him that, because it was not ABOUT that.
This is a work of art, and I am grateful to have seen it, to have felt it. -Cindy
Pawns In The Game Of Love
writers_reign26 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This movie proves that a wonderful film will overcome a stupid title that can only attract the wrong kind of audience. From the very first frame it's clear that the two protagonists who met only in the interests of pure unadulterated (sorry about that) sex are going to fall in love and it's just a question of watching it happen and seeing if it ends in tears. Once you get past the basic flaw - the kind of people who resort to sex magazines to look for partners usually do so because conventional methods have failed. They are either too old, too ugly, too short, too fat (short AND fat will usually do it every time) in fact the LAST thing they are is as gorgeous and desirable as Nathalie Baye and as handsome as Sergi Lopez - this is a wonderful film and I'm delighted to add my voice to all those others who have praised it on this board. I saw it on release some six years ago, long before I even knew of this website and I've just seen it again and admired it even more. A definite ten out of ten.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
