In avant-garde French filmmaker Catherine Breillat's Anatomy of Hell, a suicidal woman (Amira Casar) visits a gay nightclub and slits her wrists in front of a man (Rocco Siffredi) who saves her life. Afterwards, she offers him money to come to her home and watch her for four consecutive nights--an invitation that leads to several startling sexual encounters. Breillat has flirted with arty porn before, most noticeably in Romance (which also costarred Italian porn icon Siffredi), but her earlier efforts aren't nearly as impenetrable or off-putting as this one (which is calculatingly provocative and so sexually graphic--though decidedly un-erotic, both the actual sex, and the props, including the use of a blood-soaked tampon as a teabag--that even a large number of the most open-minded viewers are likely to be turned off). Moreover, Breillat's dialogue is pretentiously vague, and it's never really clear exactly what the woman expects of the man. Casar rates kudos for her incredibly uninhibited performance, and the zombie-like Siffredi, not especially known for his brilliant acting, manages to be affecting in a key scene that finds him weeping uncontrollably after his first, unsatisfactory coupling with Casar's character. It's not hyperbole to say that Anatomy of Hell goes where no other film has gone before; the question is, how many viewers are willing to make that trip? Very optional. [Note: DVD extras include a 65-minute subtitled interview with writer-director Catherine Breillat, a photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: the Breillat interview serves up more of the sexual-philosophical thinking of the film, which is based on the director's novel Pornocracy.] (E. Hulse)
Anatomy of Hell
Tartan, 80 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, VHS or DVD: $24.99, Jan. 25 Volume 20, Issue 2
Anatomy of Hell
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