Catherine Breillat, the director of Romance, brings us more of her trademark confrontational arthouse porn. Making it as a period piece (mid-19th century France) allows her to make her sets, costumes, and lead actors all look stunning, but otherwise its business as usual. Libertine Ryno relates the story of his turbulent love affair with Spanish coutesan Vellini and tries to give her up to marry a sweet and innocent type, but his obsession is too strong. Vellini is played with feral gusto by Asia Argento (daughter of Italy's horror master Dario). She spurns and whips Ryno, before leaping upon him after a duel to lick blood from his wound. I can't decide if this is a peformance of intense genius or hammy overacting.
One scene epitomises all that is ridiculous, pretentious and unsexy about intellectual european erotica - Ryno and Vellini's child dies while they are living in Algeria, so they burn the body in the desert - after Ryno stops her from throwing herself on the funeral pyre, the grief-stricken Vellini makes naked love to Ryno, bobbing up and down on him, while the child burns in the background. The scene cleverly captures both bouncing breasts and falling tears in the same shot. Won't be able to scrub that one out of my mind for awhile. [4/10]
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