The youngsters (sixteen y/o male and thirty y/o female) are highly desirable and the gradual seduction interesting; however, the betrayal at the station left me cold and reminded me too much of personal experiences.
I kept wondering what is the real story here. There doesn't seem to be one. It is merely an indulgence in titillation; and within those limitations this film is no better than so many others. It did not move me or make me feel anything in particular.
Clever Revearsal
Again Catherine Breillat delivers a real life look at a middle aged women's desire. The film has great dialogue and as usual a signature Breillat ending.
Mesmerizing
Controversial French director Catherine Breillat's "Brief Crossing" (2001) is a mesmerizing 80-minute knockout that follows two very different travelers as they meet on an overnight ferry cruise and enter into a steamy one-night affair. The twist here is that the odd couple is a thirtysomething Englishwoman and a 16-year-old French schoolboy.
Breillat was obviously inspired by David Lean's classic "Brief Encounter." However, the similarities end there. As anyone who has seen any of Breillat's previous features (including the [hot] "Romance" and "Fat Girl") will know, the director isn't interested in telling a conventional love story so much as chronicling the psychological fallout of sex. This film is no exception. As Breillat herself says in a revealing interview that accompanies the film, she made the film simply because she wanted to explore the loss of a young male's virginity. In this case, it is young Thomas (Gilles Guillan), who meets Alice (Sarah Pratt) while ordering dinner, then begins a mutual flirtation with the amused woman after she invites him to share a table with her. Over the course of the next hour, they share much revealing conversation, then eventually fall into bed together. What happens next is best left for the viewer to experience.
Obviously the centerpiece of this film is the sexual encounter, and let's just say it is beautifully handled by the director and her two actors. Perhaps because of the tender age of her young star, Breillat doesn't push the envelope as far as she did in "Romance," leaving it up to the viewer to decide just how real the encounter is. (Rest assured, young Guillan was 19 when he made the film, but still a virgin according to the director.) Still, it's an eye-opening moment. So, if you're one that is easily offended by on-screen sexuality, pass this one up.
The acting by Pratt and Guillan is perfect. The dinner scene in particular is brilliantly handled. It's fascinating to watch the older woman trying to act younger while the young boy puffs on a cigarette and vainly tries to impress the older woman by acting much older than he is. And the last fifteen minutes especially ring true, with a last-minute twist that ends the film on exactly the right note.
In all, "Brief Crossing" is a minor film which sacrifices plot to tell a simple story of two disparate souls who make a once-in-a-lifetime connection. The ending is sad but honest, and leaves the viewer to make his own judgments about the woman's behavior. (It helps to take into account the differing attitudes about sex that separates us American puritans with European sensibilities: an American film would end with the woman thrown in jail for statutory rape.) At least the film is honest about it's intentions to provide an erotic experience for the audience, unlike today's American coming-of-age films which disguise their intentions in dumb comedy and irresponsible filmmaking. (By irresponsible filmmaking, I mean that an American film would romanticize the encounter and make it appear to be a beautiful rite-of-passage for the boy and satisfying for the woman. In Breillat's world, the sex is raw, clumsy, unmutually satisfying, almost violent and even somewhat sad to watch. Quite a difference.)
In all, "Brief Crossing" is a small gem from a controversial director who delights in polarizing her audiences. The viewer's enjoyment will hinge on just how hung-up he/she is about in-your-face eroticism. Enter at your own risk. **** (out of *****)
I suppose it is theoretically possibly that a viewer could be "shocked" or "enthralled" by this movie if they had never seen anything outside the Hollywood movie and certainly no previous Catherine Breillat movies. But even then, I am skeptical.
This movie is boring, and it has a "been there, done that" feel from Breillat. This movie's problems are indicative of what I feel is the larger problem plaguing "art house" cinema the last couple of years. They have become as formulaic and thoughtlessly perfunctory as your most paint-by-numbers Hollywood romantic comedy. Too many movies that are supposed to be providing intelligent and thought-provoking alternatives to what elitists call "The Hollywood swill" are not doing that. Instead, the art house formula has grown distressingly... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Catherine Breillat DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Fell below my expectations, the movie is interesting but, the rhythm is not quite there, tends to be jerky. The acting and the scenes lack passion and intensity which could have done justice to a theme that is strong and must be portrayed with much "in your face" scenes and dialogues. Passable to watch. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jean-Claude Brisseau DVD Release Date: Released the 23 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Sex and sunlight are on ample display in Betty Blue, director Jean-Jacques Beineix's passionate look at mad love. (Every French director is contractually required to make at least one movie about l'amour fou.) It begins at the seashore, where handyman and failed novelist Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade) has his life electrified by Betty, a woman whose sense of abandon frequently tips over into the pathological. This was the role that introduced gap-toothed, voluptuous Beatrice Dalle to the world, and neither Dalle nor the world has ever quite recovered. Traces of Beineix's preciousDiva are still present, though this is a darker and more memorable ride, especially in the three-hour "version integrale" that restores an hour of footage. Its copious nude scenes are a drawing card, but... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jean-Hugues Anglade - Béatrice Dalle Director(s): Jean-Jacques Beineix DVD Release Date: Released the 12 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Perfect Love makes no attempt at keeping secrets. In just its opening minutes, the audience is given fragments of a murder investigation, the murderer re-enacting the crime, and a daughter's interview answers. These short introductory fragments give the audience the we-know-why-and-how-this-all-ends-so-badly information which, in turn, creates the framework for the story that follows i.e. "37 years old and twice divorced, Frédérique meets 28-year-old Christophe at a wedding. What starts as a happy relationship quickly turns tumultuous ..." (DVD cover notes). Sound simple and straightforward? Well, the viewing experience is not! If you can appreciate the subtlety in this movie of laughter as despair's final voice, then, you can appreciate the depth of analysis used to present the... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Catherine Breillat DVD Release Date: Released the 19 March 2002 Usually ships within 24 hours
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I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. The sex scenes were some of the best I've seen because they were graphic yet very realistic. The story was touching and honest. If you're an adult who enjoys a realistic story that is very hot, you will definitely enjoy this gem. Watch and enjoy! More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Mark Rylance - Kerry Fox Director(s): Patrice Chéreau DVD Release Date: Released the 06 January 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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