Romance (1999)

The most depressing movie ever!
The disc box features this quote from Jaime Wolf of GEAR magazine: "Genius! Possibly the sexiest movie ever made!"

Jaime Wolf is either a liar or a psychopath, because this is literally the least erotic and most depressing movie I have ever seen (well... aside from "Breaking the Waves" maybe). This stupid, STUPID lead female won't leave her boyfriend even though he is the most self-centered jerk of all time. Instead she just engages in depressing, depressed sexual acts while complaining about herself and the entire world. The ONLY uplifting part is the final minute when she (THIS IS A SPOILER SO STOP READING HERE) finally wises up and KILLS HIM!!!!

If you're looking for a good Catherine Breillait movie, try "A Real Young Girl," which at least mixes eroticism in with its disgusting images. This one is just depressing and frustrating from beginning to end (aside from the last minute).

And about that 'hardcore' footage -- it's the lead actress trying pitifully to arouse her asexual boyfriend on a few different occasions. Wow! What a turn-on!

Romance
Excellent video for an adult audience. It gives an insight of what one woman feels as she engages in an sexual act. Done very well.

Breillat is Brilliant.
Catherine Breillat (1948) is a brilliant French filmmaker, director and novelist. Her films take us (particularly us uptight Americans) places we've never been before, and usually outside our comfort zones with their hard truths. As a result, Breillat is often the subject of controversy for her explicit depictions of sexuality and violence. Romance (Romance X) (1999) stars Caroline Ducey, French pornstar Rocco Siffredi, Sagamore Stévenin and François Berléand. Romance is as austere as an Eric Rohmer film. It tells the story of Marie (Ducey), a schoolteacher who is in love with her live-in boyfriend Paul (Stevenin) who, because of his own intimacy issues (no, he's not gay), withholds sex from her. (In a stroke of pure genius, Breillat depicts Paul reading a copy of Bukowski's "Love Is a Dog From Hell" over dinner.) As a result, sexually-frustrated Marie pursues increasingly risky, anonymous sexual encounters with other men, including a bondage relationship with the much older headmaster at her school. From an Italian stud (Siffredi) to her Monsieur Marquis de Sade headmaster (Berleand), suffice it to say, Marie does it all. Throughout the film, as Marie explores her sexual desires, one wonders: what is Breillat up to here? Ultimately, this is not so much a film about casual sex as a film (from a woman's point-of-view) about sexual intellectualism, and finding empowerment through the vagina and motherhood. Breillat's interest in confronting hard truths about human sexuality is something I admire about French cinema and her films in particular. This is a film people should be debating afterwards in cafes, bars, and their bedrooms.

Before dismissing Romance as porn, viewers should consider that although the original version was released as a "porn" film in the US (with an edited mainstream version also released with an R rating), it was first shown in mainstream cinemas throughout Europe. In March 2004, the unedited film was broadcast on late-night German public TV, resulting in a few protests. The film was also broadcast on the Australian cable TV network "World Movies" in its uncut form.

G. Merritt