Corpi impazienti

The film features a quiet, observing performance by Laura Smet, as a young French woman dealing with a disease and the end of her life as she knows it.

Her boyfriend, Paul, may or may not be in love with her, and vice versa; her hospitalization only complicates the issue. He cares about her, up to a point (though, the fact that he smokes around her even when he knows the nature of her diagnosis comes off as more than a little disrespectful). She becomes increasingly more resentful, bitter and impossible, especially with the arrival of a cousin she hasn't seen if years.

EAGER BODIES is reminiscent of Lars Von Trier's BREAKING THE WAVES, both in look and with a girlfriend pushing her lover toward another. The cousin would seem to be a perfect match. But, there's the flaw: there's no real connection between these two individuals outside of basic sexual attraction and being drawn together by circumstance. I wish one of them had taken a second to acknowledge that fact, but since neither one does, at least _his_ top priority must be sex. And, so one could reasonably conclude that he doesn't truly love his dying girlfriend, so why should we care if he is happy after she's gone? Why should we care that she would care?

There's no investment in these characters, and the film is ultimately rather passive, even when it takes a turn for the violent. I also found a three way sex scene to be as unconvincing as it was unnecessary.

Still, Smet is good. I appreciate the subdued tone of the film, and the actors are attractive. Not bad for a winding down Sunday evening on the festival circuit.