It is always very difficult to talk about a controversial subject, whether in writing an article or writing a film. And one of those complex topics is pornography. A taboo subject and even repulsive for some, it is actually very interesting and deserves special attention. Whether it is his story or his role in society, several angles are possible, including that of Cédric Anger in his new film: Love is a party.
L'amour est une fête is the story of Franck and Serge, two managers of a strip club in 1982. A key period for the expansion of pornography in France, the two colleagues sought to obtain more profits by embarking on the production of X films themselves. However, they are also investigators for the police and seek to bring down a powerful producer specializing in this industry. Between thriller and humor, this film plays with genres and on different achievements in a plot under the sign of lust.
Already accustomed to thrillers, Cédric Anger had proposed La prochaine fois je viserai le cœur in 2014 (with Guillaume Canet once again). Nevertheless, this is more of a comedy than a real thriller, despite some scenes of tension. But this does not prevent the director from alternating genres within the same feature film. However, it turns out at times confusing and messy.
Light and audacity
The director (at the premiere of the film) said he wanted to deal with a bold subject and it shows. It is a subject that deserves special treatment because it is difficult to stage. However, in Love is a party , if one element is perfectly sublimated and staged, it is of course the light. We find Thomas Hardmeier, who has already worked on the lighting for Nos Femmes and Yves Saint-Laurent. Two films where we can observe all the mastery of this director of photography who, once again, sublimates the film with worked lights and who, moreover, destroys the vulgar.
It is essential in a film like this, a sensual film, to have a high quality light. In addition, recreating a universe like that of the 80s (and in particular that of strip clubs filled with neon) is a real challenge. Everything is sublimated by light, a colorful light that makes bodies ever more beautiful. The director said it: he wanted with this light to reduce the vulgarity of this environment. Thanks to high-quality lighting effects, Thomas Hardmeier manages to set up a real sublimated universe. The same goes for the management of natural lights, which are very well managed.
The audacity also comes from Guillaume Canet and Gilles Lellouche, who put a lot of will into their respective roles. In particular Lellouche who also plays the role of a family man exasperated by his wife and who only wants to leave her. A beautiful duo that gives energy to the film. The actresses are also excellent, but unfortunately relegated to minor roles except Caprice, a young woman who will seduce Guillaume Canet throughout the film.
It is also necessary to highlight the work done for the restitution of a decor of the 1980s. Few large dummy sets were used but the work of the director and the technical team was mostly based on small details with a strong approach to precision. Playing on details such as phones, toys a little daring or other, makes the film much more realistic. However, the film has a lot of negative points that make it painful to watch at times…
A film that wants to do too much?
While the film is sublimated by perfect light, the realization fishes at times. With shots often too fast and filmed with too much movement, the film is sometimes difficult to read, especially in some party scenes but this is not a huge defect, it is more of an annoying detail. The film especially wants to do too much with too many elements at the same time and especially in terms of music.
The soundtrack of this film is endless and there is no concrete management of the music. The director confessed to wanting to put several pieces that he liked and it is to his credit, but the film contains too many. By wanting to add music to each scene with the nudes, it is obvious that the film begins to abuse it and the music becomes almost tiresome.
The same is true for actresses. They are all little known and this is very interesting in principle, but their roles are somewhat demeaning. Actresses, despite being actresses in the world of pornography, are portrayed as cute and stupid women who know nothing but fake the sexual act. And although the environment in which they evolve is one of stupid men who think only through the prism of money and sex, they are not smarter and are ultimately only objects without personality. Only the character of Caprice is interesting, but unfortunately is not the strong woman we hope to see happen. Women are in the background and that's a shame. The director says he wants to respect a form of realism (since in 1982 there were no women directors or producers) but evolves in a fictional script that could have been modulated. The film was written and shot before the events of "Metoo" or the Weinstein affair and that explains why he is so uninhibited. But, it is also because it is not a film about the mores of our days but about that of a world that has disappeared, a colorful world where the X scared the government, which makes it really interesting to watch because unusual, colorful and let's say it again, uninhibited.
Love is a party is not the surprise that many expected. It is a film that has a lot of will, audacity and is not afraid to talk about a complex subject. Nevertheless, the subject is sometimes poorly conducted and the film seems at times without real direction. Nevertheless, the photography and light are very neat. The light sublimating the bodies and the sets as well as the precision approach are very interesting and will certainly interest the curious viewer, despite the weaknesses of the film …
