French Twist

I read the user comment for this film, my point of view is quite different :

1. I am surprised to see that Gazon Maudit was rated R and 18 in most countries. I saw this movie at 20:30 PM, on Sunday evening, on the main TV french channel, and I don't remember any scandal for this (and we have our share of intolerant bigots in France too...). OK, this picture is about sex, lesbians, homosexuality and triolism, we can see a few times Victoria Abril half or totally naked and Josiane Balasko smokes a lot of pot, but it is basically a comedy with no real provocation. I find much more vulgarity in, mmmh, let's say, the "American Pie" pictures - even if they don't show nudity - than in Gazon Maudit.

2. This movie is funny. No big laughs, but a good story and brilliant acting. We know that the situations are implausible (a nice married woman falls in love at first glance with a butch-lesbian-truck-driver, who will have a baby with her husband) but the characters are funny enough to forget minor errors in the script and you will enjoy the way of cross that the unfaithful husband (Alain Chabat) will have to go through.

3. I gave a rating of 6 because it's not a masterpiece. But if you find the plot outline attracting, if you ever wonder "What would I do if my wife leaves me for another woman ?", or if you want to see an uncommon film about relationships, you will not be disappointed !

Here's a film which is definitely outside the box for American audiences. French films are usually an acquired taste and this one is no exception. This is a delightful light comedy about a married couple whose life change upon the arrival of a butch lesbian to their lives. You don't have to be a genius to guess what's coming. Nevertheless, the movie is funny, it's done with great taste and sensibility, and even though the characters are not 100% belivable, they are not stereotypical. Victoria Abril is delicious, playing the wife whose disenchantment of the married life leads her to explore a lesbian affair. What I liked in particular about this comedy, is that sexual orientation never becomes the main issue in the movie, and it's really secondary to the human relationships that develop in this bizarre triangle. The script could have been a little less linear, but the characters are well developed and well played. Overall, French twist is a fun light comedy which probably wouldn't raise an eyebrow in Europe but will need a very open minded audience in the US. Unfortunately we're not ready yet.

This film is typical of films made outside of mainstream Hollywood studios; it takes some old themes and treats them with an attention-grabbing freshness. Playing Loli, a young housewife living in the south of France, Victoria Abril is as delightful as a spring breeze in Provence. Her husband is an incorrigible infidel; we've seen many of those in films. However, when the masculine Marijo, played poignantly by Josiane Balasko, enters their lives, the story takes many unexpected and entertaining turns which render a fairly common theme completely unpredictable. Everyone to whom I recommend this film ends up watching it numerous times and recommending it to others. The soundtrack is now one of my most-played CD's.

French Twist, also known as "Gazon Maudit" in France, is a French Sexual-Comedy film which playfully explores some aspects of homosexuality, gender roles, infidelity, and homophobia. The subjects explored in the movie may sound heavy on paper, but in the actual context of the film were used more as a means to carry the comedy itself. That is to say, the themes in the film, while not commonly explored, were not overly-subversive in a sense which would the film a "heavy" feeling.

The comedic situations take place between the three main characters; Laurent, his wife Loli, and a lesbian DJ/drifter Marijo. The film establishes quite early that since Laurent is an infidel and emotionally neglectful to his wife Loli, Loli engaging in homosexually promiscuous behavior with Marijo is not necessarily a betrayal to their marriage. The psychology of this sort of 'revenge' against the neglectful husband is what prevents the audience from seeing Loli as a wretched being.

Most of the comedy is based around awkward situations created by Marijo's attraction to Loli. Some gender stereotypes and sexist perspectives are explored mainly through Laurent's behavior, and conversations between him and his perverted friend. Laurent states that he could understand his wife being promiscuous with a female, "But with that?", implying that he would support lesbianism only in the case of both females being attractive. Laurent also states that it is acceptable for males to be sexual infidels to their spouse, but not for females to do so. Also considering that Loli gave up her ambitions as a dancer to be a "housewife" with Laurent implies that upon marrying Laurent, she had to conform to a certain gender role. Homophobia is also explored in the sense that it seems as if his wife's homosexual explorations must be accepted by Laurent for him to progress as a character, and solve the issue between him and Loli. The film playfully toys with these concepts by placing Marijo as the factor who upsets the status-quo, and quickly becomes the forefront of the chaos that ensues. Even with such aspects in the film, it consistently maintains a light-tone throughout the narrative.

The film itself manages to incorporate what may be considered taboo subject matter by some, into a narrative which could be enjoyed by anyone (particularly in large groups/class screenings, etc.) If there was ever an outrage which occurred regarding the film's content, the cause of the outrage is probably more regional/cultural rather than being incited by the film's content itself. The film does portray homosexuality, infidelity, nudity, sex, verbal cursing, and drug-use; which justifies it's R-rating; though considering the film is rated "Everyone" in France, it becomes evident that any sort of backlash regarding the film is justified or not depending on the moral standings of the particular region in which the film is being viewed. Even with that said, I would not show this film to children because of the nudity, sex scenes, heavy language, and drug-use.

The film is a comedy as being its base-genre, so in that sense the film was hilarious in the many awkward and uncommon situations that were portrayed. I would recommend this film to fans of foreign-comedies/relationship comedies who do not hold strong moral prejudices against subversive topics.

I know many people have a mental block about foreign-language films, but this is an excellent taster for the nervous. No portentous symbolism or moody gazes into the middle-distance - just a witty, sexy comedy of errors, where the audience's sympathies bounce back and forth between the three principal characters. Instantly accessible to monolinguists - and yet its panache and pace could only be French (yeah, I know Abril is Spanish).

Incidentally, I know we're not really supposed to respond to other comments from IMDb users, but it's interesting to note that the movie-loving community displays just as much intolerance and uptightness about sexuality as any other disparate group of people.