165. Saint Narcisse; movie review

 

SAINT NARCISSE

Cert 18

101 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong sex, sexual violence

"Blimey, that was weird!"

Mrs W and I were at one after witnessing Bruce LaBruce's Saint Narcisse whose key character has a fetish - for himself!

Felix Antoine Duval plays 22-year-old Dominic who looks after his grandma when he is not taking photos of his middle wicket or dreaming of rumpy pumpy in a launderette.

When she dies, he discovers that his mother (Tania Kontoyanni) didn't pass away in childbirth as he has been told his whole life.

Just as shocking, he finds out that he has a twin brother who has been raised by a depraved priest (Andreas Apergis) in a remote monastery.

Perverted sex is a key plank in LaBruce's film from its opening minutes and it becomes progressively weirder.

The acting is rather stilted - notably when Dominic is reunited with his mum but there are a couple of belly laughs.

Its accompanying press release informed me that LaBruce is the 'enfant terrible' of queer cinema as well as an internationally acclaimed photographer and writer.

I have not seen any of his previous work but I can imagine that its boundaries must be very loose if Saint Narcisse is anything to go by.

Is it intended as a piece of abstract art and what is LaBruce trying to say, if anything via the incest scenes?

Those who want an assault on their sense and questioning of their own moral compasses may well enjoy Saint Narcisse but I would guess the market would be quite limited.

Reasons to watch: A very different type of movie

Reasons to avoid: Incest won't be for many watchers

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 3.5/10

Did you know? Bruce LaBruce is a filmmaker, photographer, writer, and artist based in Toronto. Along with a number of short films, he has written and directed eleven feature films, including “Gerontophilia,” which won the Grand Prix at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal in 2013.

The final word. Bruce LaBruce: "The working title of the film was Twincest. My films often address issues of taboo and fetish. That was one that kept cropping up. I made Gerontophilia in Quebec in 2013, which was about gerontophilia, a fetish that some people have for the elderly." Seventh Row

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