Romance (1999) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

Here’s my review of the film, Romance.   Thanks for watching and please subscribe.  New content dropping every week.   For Exclusive Content: https://www.patreon.com/filmsceneinvestigation  Rumble: https://www.rumble.com/filmsceneinvestigations   Odysee: https://odysee.com/@filmsceneinvestigation:e  Daily Motion: https://www.dailymotion.com/Filmsceneinvestigation  Help Support Me At:  https://www.PayPal.me/beaucarter91

Transcript

00:00hey everyone it's me Beau back here on the film scene investigation channel hope everyone is

00:17doing well I'm back with another cult movie review in today's video I'm going to be reviewing the

00:251999 French drama romance so romance from 1999 was written and directed by the filmmaker Catherine

00:39Brilet starring Caroline Doocy in the lead role this film was a sexually explicit drama that

00:49followed the life of a school teacher called Marie the film recently came back into the spotlight

00:56after the actress Caroline Doocy alleged that she had been sexually assaulted while filming the movie

01:05back in 1998 she then went on to say that she actually blamed the director for what happened

01:15to her now before I get on with the actual review I might as well take this moment to give my

01:22thoughts on this issue so Doocy alleges that she agreed to perform real-life sex acts on screen

01:33before filming the director and writer Catherine Brilet insisted that she cast an actor who was

01:42willing to go all the way but midway through production Doocy got cold feet and since she was already in a

01:53relationship she felt that she was unable to fully commit more importantly Doocy claims that no such

02:03request was ever written into her contract but still the actress went ahead with the intended sequences

02:12like the director wanted now I wasn't there so I can't be certain but from all the information I've read

02:22that's available online it would seem to me that Doocy had agreed to go ahead with these real-life sex scenes but

02:33later changed her mind though at that point it was too late to go back filming had begun

02:41she'd made an agreement and she had to go through with it I just get the impression

02:48that Doocy was likely pressured into going ahead with the real sex acts for the sake of the project I mean you

03:02have to understand that you have to understand that back in 1998 Doocy was a very young and impressionable

03:09actress you know at the early stages of her career I assume that the actress was likely warned about her

03:20unprofessional behavior and you know what it could potentially do to her career if she didn't go ahead

03:29either way it's a sad state of affairs for both parties involved make no

03:37mistake this was a well-made movie with a message for its audience and I you know I believe it should

03:46be experienced but given the recent developments that have come to light it's safe to say that there is a

03:55dark cloud that now hangs over this movie as for the movie itself it started with

04:03Marie and her boyfriend Paul discussing their relationship issues that they've been

04:09having the character Paul played by actor Segamoor Stavlin was a model that was more

04:17interested in his work than his girlfriend yeah Marie was unhappy with the lack of attention that she was

04:27getting and more importantly the lack of intimacy between them to her the relationship had become stale

04:36yet with Paul I don't know he was just content and happy with how things were this problem would

04:46ultimately lead to Marie seeking out other men for sex I mean she she never really wanted to

04:56cheat on Paul but she could not continue on with this pent-up sexual frustration so one night Marie drove to a bar

05:10where she met a man called Paolo who was playing by actor Rocco Sufredi immediately after entering the bar

05:20Paolo locked eyes on Marie and it was an instant attraction so the two began talking and very quickly Marie

05:32began to reveal these details about her broken relationship while this scene gave us the

05:42audience more insight into Marie and you know how she felt I must say I did find it quite peculiar that

05:51Marie you know so quickly started you know blabbering about her issues to a total stranger with Paolo

05:59Paolo having recently lost his wife you know he he wanted companionship and hearing Marie's issues didn't seem to bother him at all

06:11the two would eventually hook up a few days later but it was clear that Marie had no intentions of taking any further

06:23while he was more than happy to carry on with Marie behind her boyfriend's back she simply

06:31couldn't carry on with some long-term affair so she ended it while she hated the situation she was in

06:41with her boyfriend Marie still loved him and Paolo was simply just there for sex the principal of

06:51Marie's school and Mr Roger played by actor Francois Berland soon came into the picture he was this

07:01soft-spoken intellectual man who soon became attracted to Marie after a few discussions between the two

07:12Marie soon found herself invited over to Rogers home the scene where Marie goes over to Rogers

07:21place it was definitely quite say an eye-opening one where we got to see Rogers true colors come out

07:30Marie sat there on the sofa listening to Roger as he shared his controversial views on how women all

07:41secretly desired to be dominated and that they actually liked sexual assault it was some very harsh rhetoric

07:51that made Roger out to be this weird sexual deviant but on the contrary Marie didn't seem to mind if

08:03anything she was almost intrigued with Rogers comments you know it wasn't long before the two

08:12started engaging in some bondage with Roger tying Marie up and covering her mouth I mean this was a long

08:21drawn-out scene and it was quite clear that Roger had definitely done this before

08:28he had the ropes he had the masks he had everything all laid out ready and waiting and Marie was there

08:38happily going along with everything being completely submissive allowing Roger to take full advantage

08:46Marie continued on to engage in various sexual escapades while her boyfriend Paul was none the wiser in some ways

08:58it was like she had this sexual awakening due to the pressures of the relationship she had with Paul

09:09he was neglectful in that department and you know Marie needed more but she wasn't willing to actually end

09:20the relationship but Marie's actions would all unfortunately come back to haunt her when she found herself being sexually assaulted outside her apartment

09:32what started out as this random encounter soon turned ugly when this man got extremely rough while this was a very

09:45difficult scene to experience

09:47i have to give credit to the director for their originality in blurring the lines between consent and abuse

10:01this wasn't an outright assault as Marie had consented up until a point but she paid the price when the man became forceful

10:15now while of course there is absolutely no justification for sexually assaulting someone

10:21marie was a fault for putting herself in that situation

10:27you know let's be honest

10:29marie decided to get sexually involved with a total stranger she had just met anyone

10:38involving themselves in that you know kind of behavior

10:42you know they're putting themselves at risk

10:44as i'm sure we're all aware there are consequences in life

10:49yet marie didn't seem to

10:54notice this or kind of see the danger until it was too late

10:59the assault

11:01left marie

11:03feeling very confused about how to handle the situation

11:08she

11:09started to question whether she actually wanted to be sexually assaulted

11:14like roger had stated earlier in the film

11:17she absolutely should have gone to the police and reported the crime

11:21but being so confused and conflicted

11:26marie ultimately decided not to tell anyone

11:30in the final third of the movie we would actually end up seeing marie

11:35get pregnant by her boyfriend paul

11:39while the two were still having their relationship issues

11:42marie actually thought that maybe having a child could actually improve matters between them

11:50while marie was hopeful for change

11:55paul still continued to prioritize his work

11:59and treated marie like his pregnant sister

12:04the neglect and resentment that marie felt

12:09deeply affected her

12:11yet paul

12:13never really made any effort to change things

12:16now i've read online some reviews where people kind of assumed that paul was secretly gay

12:24for me i got the impression that he simply just

12:30didn't love marie like she loved him

12:32it it was almost as if paul was in some sort of denial about the whole situation

12:40now when it comes to the actual performances in the movie

12:43i thought caroline doocy in the lead role delivered a great performance as marie

12:53the role was a very demanding one especially for a young actress

12:59like doocy who you know was kind of inexperienced but that didn't seem to phase her

13:07making her efforts seem all that more impressive

13:11she had a strong screen presence about her and i could absolutely understand why she was cast in the first place

13:18still given what we know now about doocy and her allegations

13:26it kind of makes for a bittersweet situation

13:30while this film romance is absolutely a career highlight for her

13:35this obviously isn't a movie that she remembers fondly

13:41before we get into dislikes i just want to give credit to the cinematographer

13:47yorgos ovantis

13:49he captured several beautiful visuals throughout the movie

13:55and i must say i wasn't really

13:59expecting such a well-crafted film

14:01while the story was raw and explicit the look and the aesthetic of romance was the very opposite

14:13clearly this movie had been made with a lot of care and attention and it showed on screen

14:21so dislikes for romance from 1999

14:29my biggest dislike for the film would have to be its pacing

14:36most of the movie had a very slow pace and for me

14:42that is what kind of hurt the film's overall quality

14:47i mean there's no doubt in my mind that a

14:52solid 10 minutes of footage could have easily have been removed from the final cut

14:59you know i do appreciate what the director was attempting here

15:03but not everything needed to be so unending and stretched out

15:11that said the final 15 minutes of romance actually felt somewhat rushed

15:17you had marie getting pregnant giving birth

15:22there was paul's funeral i mean there was so much going on and then the film just finished

15:30it's like the whole film was going along at a steady pace and in the last 15 minutes

15:36they kind of you know chucked so much into the story and yeah it just seemed very uneven

15:42i don't want to be too harsh but the film's editor Agnes Gilmore didn't do a great job and ultimately we were left with a film that had an uneven pace

15:58that would likely put many viewers off another dislike i have to mention is the film's actual title romance

16:07using such a generic term like romance just didn't resonate with me and to be honest it was very bland and

16:16didn't represent the film accurately i mean if you wanted to use a one-word title then maybe something like

16:26desires or tensions would have been more appropriate and you know when i think about it there wasn't really any

16:35romantic elements in the movie in the first place so calling the movie romance just seemed very odd to me

16:44and talking of generic i should also mention the awful dvd cover that this movie had the movie was released

16:53here on dvd back in 2002 i believe and yet it just featured this overly stylized image of marie

17:03marie completely naked with her arms folded above her head in terms of concept i didn't hate it but

17:13it was definitely the wrong image to use for the dvd cover i mean marie's face was way too airbrushed and

17:21the pose that she had looked unnatural you know i don't really talk about dvd cover artwork you know

17:28on a regular basis but i had to bring up here because ever since i clapped eyes on this dvd many

17:35years ago it's always bothered me the generic title and the generic horrible image of marie

17:42and so ratings for 1999's romance i'm going to be rating this movie a 4 out of 10. this was a well-made

17:55movie that explored these supposed hidden female desires it was an interesting character study of a

18:06woman selfishly indulging herself in these various sexual activities behind her lover's back after

18:16taking a step back and having some time to process this film i have to say that i do believe the movie

18:24gives the wrong message to women about embracing sexual deviance in the name of sexual liberation

18:33you know marie's behavior became more and more unhinged and i just don't think it's a good

18:43lifestyle to promote to women films like romance with its dangerous interpretations can potentially

18:54inspire such behavior and uh yeah it should be called out because it's definitely not a lifestyle that

19:01uh women should um seek out even though this movie does have its shortcomings i thought it was still

19:10very thought-provoking and unique in its own explicit kind of way if any of you out there have seen this

19:19movie i would love to hear your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below for those who haven't

19:25i do recommend it but please bear in mind of the slow pace and unlikeable characters and well that's all

19:34from me today guys i hope you've enjoyed the review i'll be back next week with more don't forget to

19:40subscribe and of course take care

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