218. L'amant double; movie review

L'AMANT DOUBLE
Cert 18
108 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong sex

Oo'er missus... François Ozon's L'Amant Double barely makes its way out of the bedroom.
There is straight sex, threesomes and even a woman making love to her boyfriend from behind.
It sounds like what might have been on the menu on under-the counter DVDs at Private Shops in the 1980s.
This is as close as it gets to soft porn wrapped up as a mainstream movie and, by its conclusion, I feared that its lead might have been exploited.
Well, I would have done if I hadn't have known of Marine Vacth's form for getting her kit off on the big screen.
Anyway, she plays Chloe, a model who feels the need for psychotherapy and falls in love with her shrink (Jérémie Renier).
After they move in together, his professional ethics (which have already gone out of the window) mean that she can longer be a client.
So, she seeks help from another therapist, alighting upon her new boyfriend's twin.
I was a big fan of Ozon's previous film Frantz which had an unusual premise surrounding post-war rehabilitation.
I found it more difficult to engage with L'Amant Double - largely because its central characters are not appealing and because its narrative is unclear. Indeed, its final minutes pose more questions than answers.
On the plus side, Ozon does achieve his goal of creating a sexual thriller with tension. Sporadically, L'amant double lured me to the edge of my seat.
But too much of it had me scratching my head and too long is spent on the sex scenes. I am no prude but I was feeling like a voyeur.
Of course, there will be people who will say that Vacth is so attractive that I should have been happy to be intimate with her top and even bottom half.
I can't deny her beauty but I was on the cusp of shouting at the screen "for goodness sake, put on your bra and pants on".
I fear that this over-concentration on sex has meant Ozon has taken his eye off the prize of creating a rounded thriller and has delivered a film which is only pleasing in parts.
PS I have been trying to avoid doiuble entendres throughout this review but it has been hard... I mean difficult.

Reasons to watch: dare I say its attractive naked people?
Reasons to avoid: An ending which left me confused

Laughs: None
Jumps: One
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: Yes - lots
Overall rating - 6/10

Director quote - Francois Ozon: "I wanted to create a sexual thriller with strong psychological tension. The idea was not to shock but rather depict the complexity of lust."

The big question - How do actors feel when they asked to be so uninhibited?

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