is the meaning of this film wasted on those of us that are not french or european? i understand the whole double standard of virginity and brutality of adolencence, but are there deeper meanings that can only be picked up by a french audience?
shareNope, this thing's a typical product of the heavily state-subsidized french movie industry.
For a handful of years, the fashion in the so-called "intellectual circles" in France was movies verging so much on pornography that they even used porn actors, as they're easier to convince to do anything for their "big break in legit films".
The sexual content is of course extremely important, as controversy's needed in order for the so-called author to pose as a victim of "reactionaries trying to stifle artistic expression".
But the end product fails both as porn and as regular movie.
No matter how some so-called intellectuals (called in France housefly rapists) wish it to be different, the main purpose of a movie is to tell a story. So a director needs above everything else storytelling talent. Everything else, the actors, the sets, the special effects, the sexual action are but means to that end. So if you don't have that end, the means are wasted.
And that's what you get with that movie and the rest of Ms. Breillat and her cronies productions : minimal stories, no directing talent, but tons of shock value and kilotons of posturing, which is enough to get the much sought after government subsidies.
No, you don't have to be French to appreciate the film and its themes.
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