The Last Mistress
Catherine Breillat's adaptation of An Old Mistress stars Fu'ad Ait Aatou as Ryno de Marigny, and Asia Argento as Vellini, two lovers in 19th century Paris. The two have been passionately involved for nearly a decade, but de Marigny attempts to end their relationship now that he is engaged to Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida), a respectable young woman. As the bride-to-be's grandmother forces de Marigny to confront his past as a notorious womanizer, the film flashes back to reveal the intense decade the lovers shared. Although de Marigny appears to want to shut Vellini out forever, her passions may be far too much for him to deny.
Director: Catherine Breillat
Starring: Asia Argento, Fu'ad Ait Aattou, Roxane Mesquida, Claude Sarraute,Yolande Moreau
Breillat, the flamethrower who made "Romance" and "Fat Girl," artfully twists period-piece drama to suit her provocative modern notions about sex, gender roles, and power.
Whatâ??s explicit here is ravenous passion and the depiction of desire as a creating, destroying force that invades the very flesh. It's terribly French.
The Catherine Breillat-directed period piece is an extreme cinematic pleasure, a well-told yarn of merciless desire.
A passionate and explicit film about sexual obsession.
The picture's visual style is clean, exact and beautifully photographed by Yorgos Arvanitis.
Catherine Breillat
Cannes Film Festival (2007)
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