Sex is Comedy
By the time Sex is Comedy was over, it was clear that sex wasn't supposed to be funny so much as it was ironic in its complicated nature. Made more complicated in this case were two actors who plain don't like each other giving fits to a director trying to shoot the most important scene in her film—a sex scene—with two duds in front of the camera. It has to be a semi-autobiographical incident for writer-director Catherine Breillat, who is known for her controversial films on the subject of female sexuality and her groundbreaking use of unsimulated intercourse in her films with real (i.e., not porn) actors. There's no need for such extreme measures here, since the actors in question can't even kiss each other without looking like robots. As the director, Anne Parillaud (who you may remember as the original La Femme Nikita) coddles her actors, running interference between them, hoping to glean just enough chemistry from them to make her scene a success. Unfortunately, the only chemistry in the real film is between Parillaud and her assistant director. Everyone else acts as though they've forgotten their lines, or they're giving non-French speaking audiences a chance to catch up on the subtitles. Breillat's films have often been accused of being too personal; but this is ridiculous and probably interesting to no one but herself.
- June 24, 2008
DVD Extras
All you get here is a trailer and some MGM promotional junk.