Criminal Lovers

one of Francois Ozon films. this is the most inspired definition for the embroidery of love, appearances, eroticism and meet with a classic fairy tale in new adaptation. a film who ignores taboos and who has the right seduction tools for impress. a couple, a murder and a meet. and the atmosphere who reminds a lot of similar stories but defines a great thriller. a film who has many virtue but not the status of comfortable film.the lead trait - science of Ozon to create fascinating games , like spider web, for define every day aspects of society.the other significant detail - the meet with Predrag Manojlovic, one of familiar figures from the films of Kusturica, here performing one of characters who, for a part from us, reminds large slices from childhood.

I can not say that this is a movie for all tastes, but if you feel watching a great classic kind of tale, then go for it! I hope you have a good time and even a few laughs. I really found it funny in some parts... I have to say I liked it very much!

In 1999, two very different horror films were unleashed onto audiences. Both were postmodern takes on contemporary folklore. Both involved young people getting lost in the woods. Both drew heavily from folktales by the Brothers Grimm. Both were products of their time and thus reflect their respective society's anxieties. Both have notoriously bleak endings. Both were far cries from what the multiplexes were offering. Both were influential in spawning two new modes of storytelling. Yet The Blair Witch Project was heavily marketed as a horror film and remains a landmark in the found footage genre while Criminal Lovers stayed mostly in arthouse theaters due to its frank sexuality as well as its refusal to stay within genre conventions. As a result, Criminal Lovers never got proper attention that it deserves in forming French New Extermity's roots.

Honestly, the film feels what would happen if you spliced in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre halfway through Badlands. This isn't the only cinematic influence that Criminal Lovers borrows from to tell its certified messed-up tale of doomed lovers running from the law. Echoes of The Night Of The Hunter and Salo are present in the film as the couple go down a river in a boat before being captured by a sadistic man in the woods. Every torturous taboo imaginable is broken to the point that you realize that Hansel and Gretel got off easy compared to what Alice and Luc suffer through.

That's where the film's strengths lie in its willingness to play with genre conventions and to break the boundaries of good taste. One minute, it's a high school melodrama with murder thrown in for good measure; the next minute, it's a subliminal torture porn that would make Eli Roth run away in complete terror. I won't spoil the horrors but they gave this hardened viewer pause in disbelief.

This gives Criminal Lovers a much more transgressive artistry than Blair Witch Project ever could- it's a fractured fairy tale as envisioned by a hellish-but-dreamlike collaboration between the Marquis De Sade and Jean-Luc Godard. Even better, you get two fantastic performances from both Natacha Regnier and Jeremie Renier that supply the film with a desperate rawness that's only matched by the young people suffering in Larry Clark's films.

It all looks simple, but what is going on in CRIMINAL LOVERS is complex. Ozon is adept at conveying the shifts in our emotions and clearly enjoys exploring our conflicted natures.

Sexy Alice (Natacha Regnier), a manipulator of men, coerces the sexually uncertain Luc (Jeremie Renier) into murdering the handsome Said (Salim Kechiouche). Although getting rid of the body proves problematic, the couple's real problems begin when they take refuge in an old cottage in the forest.

The owner of the cottage is Karim (Yasmine Belmadi), an odd fellow who develops a fondness for Luc and a hatred for Alice. Perhaps Alice is his competition? The film explores fascinating sexual territory, and even reminded me, tonally, of Japanese pink films such as WIFE TO BE SACRIFICED and CAPTURED FOR SEX 2.

Ozon embraces the provocative subject matter with supreme confidence and never recoils from its inherent darkness. The erotic tension remains taut throughout and the performances are beautifully balanced.

The photography is subdued but stylish and the forest setting echoes "Hansel and Gretel".

There is great intelligence behind this adult fairytale and a willingness to explore sexuality and desire that is never hampered by the stench of political correctness that handicaps so much "edgy" material these days.

*****MOVIE SPOLIERS******

I'm sorry - I love French movies. They don't hold anything back.

Nudity - Horror - they show everything.

I really think the reason Luc agreed that he would kill Said was because he was mad at him for going after that Bitch Alice instead of him. I really feel Luc was in love with Said. That's why he was so sad when he caught Alice and him together. Watch the part when Luc is killing Said, you get see how big Said's penis is. Man oh Man. It just lays there against his thigh. Nice.

Then, when they were trapped in the Hermit's house, when he got jerked off and then ultimately _ _ cked by this Hermit, he finally understood his feelings for men. Watch the end and watch the anger when the Hermit is caught. "Let him go, he didn't do anything wrong"

Fun and interesting movie.