115. Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades, Paris 13e); movie review

 

PARIS, 13TH DISTRICT (LES OLYMPIADES, PARIS 13E)

Cert 18

105 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong sex

Ooh, la la. Those Parisiennes live up to their sexy reputation in Paris, 13th District.

From the opening scenes onwards, naked flesh is consistently splayed across the scene - although, if you have a penchant for full frontal, only female is on view.

Jacques Audiard's movie reflects on changing attitudes towards relationships and sex.

Thus, we first meet Émilie (Lucie Zhang) who usually is keener on love-making than falling in love.

Initially, she has the same view of her rumpy-pumpy with Camille (Makita Samba), a teacher who answers an advert for her spare room.

We see a heck of a lot of their writhing bodies after he moves in but things become more complicated when emotions begin to play their part.

Meanwhile, Nora (Noémie Merlant) is a mature student who finds herself mistakenly recognised for a famous cyber sex worker (Jehnny Beth).

This is the worst type of horror for a woman who is sexually inexperienced and she struggles to recover from the fall-out.

Thus, she finds solace by going back to her roots and beginning two unexpected friendships.

Audiard's film conjures the atmosphere of the Paris suburb which has a heavy immigrant population and is also popular with Bohemians.

Its young enjoy a party and commitment is off the agenda... until the music stops and the hour of need for lasting human connection arrives.

Filmed in black and white, it is a contemplative, languid movie which some will find too slow.

But it includes compelling, convincing performances from its three leads and I found it more accessible than I had expected - and not just during the sex scenes!

Reasons to watch: Intimate and intense

Reasons to avoid: Meanders too much

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? The 13th District is also known as Gobelins. The Gobelins Paris tapestry workshop was established by Louis XIV in 1662 and still produces tapestries today. Original tapestries from the time of Louis XIV now fetch more than a million dollars.

The final word. Jacques Audiard: "I wanted to make a movie on love discourse. Checking at what point we are, today, with love discourse. When you look at the movie [My Night At Maud's], you can see certain specific love discourse. Move forward 40 years and what’s the impact of dating apps on that discourse? The paradox of the movie is that the people who know the highest level of intimacy in the movie [achieve it] through [a] computer." Culture Whisper

Share this post