ROMANCE (1999) (B+) - Catherine Breillat goes full-frontal and full-throttle in this daring examination of the emotional turmoil of an unsatisfied woman exploring her sexuality. Graphic sex is interspersed with psychological gymnastics as we follow Marie, a 20-something stuck with a sexless boyfriend as she yearns to let loose.
Breillat made a splash with this bold movie, beginning a run of provocative films like "Fat Girl" and "Brief Crossing," more than a decade after her breakthrough, "36 Fillette." Not only does she traffic in explicit sex, but she commissions a porn star to abet her mission. That would be Rocco Siffredi (to give you a sampling of his 620-film career, one of his latest titles in "Rocco's Psycho Teens 18"), who here plays Paolo, a mysterious hunk who provides some sex on the side to Marie (a sweet, unassuming Caroline Ducey), who can't get her boyfriend to respond to her come-ons in bed.
Marie also visits an older man -- an ordinary guy who claims he has bedded thousands of women, many of them famous -- to engage in some sado-masochistic play. In one disturbing scene, Marie also hooks up with a rando in a stairwell, letting him go down on her before he then rapes her. Throughout the film, we are privy to Marie's thoughts. Some can be profound, others the musing of a fairly immature woman. She often voices cravings to be a mere vessel of sex, but it's hard to tell if she truly holds such dehumanizing desires or if she is venting her frustration. Things get muddled by her attachment to the boyfriend (Sagamore Stevenin), who is a blandly handsome sexist pig.
As I said, the sex is explicit -- refreshingly so. There are no games of hide-the-penis; Ducey (who comes off as a poor man's Charlotte Gainsbourg) services and is serviced. Looking back at a film made a quarter of a century ago, I can't tell if this was cutting edge for its day, or if it was anti-feminist feminism, or whether it foresaw the demystification of sex (especially as captured on video these days) or if it should be trash-canned as puerile voyeuristic exploitation. I'm not the one to solve that riddle.
I will say that the movie drags a bit, even at 84 minutes, as Breillat provides a dollop of "Jeanne Dielman" tedium, perhaps to prove her point about both the excitement of sex when it finally pops up on screen as well as the drudgery of both the chase and catch at times. Those numbed by years of anodyne R-rated fare might find this a breath of fresh air.
MONOGAMISH (2017) (B-minus) - There are both too many ideas and a lack of a coherent theme that drag this vanity project all over the map. Tao Ruspoli, who happens to be an Italian Prince, dives into the shallow end of the debate over monogamy in this slapdash documentary.
Just try to keep up with his thoughts. Ruspoli distracts himself and the viewer with forced artsy visuals (journeyman Christopher Gallo is listed as cinematographer), and he complements talking-head narration with dumb staged scenes of an exotic young threesome frolicking in various places. Philosophical musings are tossed out willy-nilly. We have to sit through a cousin walk us through his family tree, so that we are impressed with their lineage.
The most compelling talking head is columnist Dan Savage, but Ruspoli over-uses Savage and turns him into a device -- Ruspoli shares the letters he has written over the years to alt-weekly guru, as if we care about his youthful ramblings. Savage deserves a better movie to have a sober discussion about the issues of monogamy and polygamy.
Other distractions abound. Ruspoli changes his look -- sometimes bearded, sometimes not -- so you might have to pause or rewind to make sure it's him in a given scene. He introduces some random 17-year-old mom, with not much to offer; doesn't identify her; and then doesn't seem to come back to her (I couldn't tell). This all is way too distracting for the 74-minute run-time. I will give Ruspoli credit for one thing, though -- he has a perfect ending. But sometimes the perfect ending is the enemy of the good of the whole.
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