''Curiosa'' is a 2019 French biographical film directed by Lou Jeunet starring Noémie Merlant,

Niels Schneider Niels Schneider (; born 18 June 1987) is a Franco-Canadian actor who has appeared in more than thirty films since 2007. Born in Paris, naturalized Canadian, Schneider moved to Montreal at the age of 9 to start his career doing voice-over jobs. ...

and

Benjamin Lavernhe Benjamin Lavernhe (, born 14 August 1984) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than sixteen films since 2009. Filmography References External links * Living people French male film actors 21st-century French male actors 1984 ...

. It is loosely based on the relationship between 19th-century French authors

Pierre Louÿs Pierre Louÿs (; 10 December 1870 – 4 June 1925) was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection". ...

and

Marie de Régnier Marie de Régnier (; 20 December 1875 – 6 February 1963), also known by her maiden name Marie de Heredia or her pen-name Gérard d'Houville (), was a French novelist and poet, and closely involved in the artistic circles of early twentieth-cent ...

. Pierre Louÿs was an erotomaniac who took erotic or pornographic photographs of his mistresses. Such erotic or even pornographic representations are referred to as 'curiosa'’, hence the name of the movie.Curiosa
at Premiere

Plot

The film recounts the relationship between Marie de Régnier (1875–1963) and Pierre Louÿs (1870–1925), which takes place in France around the turn of the 20th century. Pierre Louÿs and his friend Henri de Regnier both fall in love with Marie, daughter of the poet

José-Maria de Heredia José-Maria de Heredia (22 November 1842 – 3 October 1905) was a Cuban-born French Parnassian poet. He was the fifteenth member elected for seat 4 of the Académie française in 1894. Biography Early years Heredia was born at Fortuna ...

. Marie is a respected writer who signed her first book, ‘’L'Inconstante’’, under the pseudonym Gérard d'Houville. Although she loves Pierre, she marries the wealthy Henri to help pay off her father's debt and to improve her social position. Pierre subsequently flees to Algeria where he meets Zohar, a beguiling woman with whom he starts a passionate relationship. When he returns to France, he takes Zohar with him. Marie becomes his mistress and she and Zohar both engage in erotic games with Pierre and pose nude for him. They discover themselves by transgressing the norms of the bourgeois society they live in.Curiosa
at Unifrance Marie starts to invent stories to inflame Pierre’s erotic imagination. With these stories she gains power over him and discovers her sexuality and literary voice.John Hopewell, ''UniFrance Rendez-Vous: Lou Jeunet on ‘Curiosa,’ the Extraordinary Marie de Regnier, Sexuality, Art ''
Jan 15, 2019, ''Variety'' When Pierre goes back on a trip, Marie feels a terrible emptiness and discovers she is pregnant.Mathieu Macheret, « Curiosa »: une liaison littéraire au sensualisme frelaté
Le Monde, 3 April 2019

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews, with Allociné noting an average rating by professional film reviewers of 2.9/5.Curiosa
at Allociné ''Première'' found some positive points despite an average rating: "We won't complain about this desire for images and beauty that is cruelly lacking in French cinema". ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' was a little more severe: "…the film does not really problematize the question of the image, for which it substitutes a somewhat adulterated sensualism".

References

External links

* * * {{Rotten-tomatoes, curiosa, Curiosa 2019 films French historical drama films French biographical drama films French erotic drama films 2010s French-language films Films set in Paris Films set in the 1800s 2010s French films