''Romance'' (''Romance X'') is a 1999 French

arthouse An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily ...

film written and directed by

Catherine Breillat Catherine Breillat (; born 13 July 1948) is a French filmmaker, novelist and professor of auteur cinema at the European Graduate School. In the film business for over 40 years, Catherine Breillat chooses to normalize previously taboo subjects ...

. It stars

Caroline Ducey Caroline Ducey (born Caroline Trousselard, 12 December 1976) is a French actress who has appeared in 34 films since 1994. Outside of her home country, she is best known for her controversial role in Catherine Breillat's 1999 film ''Romance'', a ...

Rocco Siffredi Rocco Siffredi (born Rocco Antonio Tano; 4 May 1964) is an Italian pornographic actor, director and producer. He took his stage name from the character Roch Siffredi played by Alain Delon in the French gangster film ''Borsalino'' (1970). Kn ...

, Sagamore Stévenin and

François Berléand François Berléand (; born 22 April 1952) is a French actor. He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in ''Le Bureau'', the French version of ''The Office'', produced by Canal+. He also appeared in the 2002 fil ...

. The film features explicit

copulation Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetra ...

scenes, especially one showing Ducey's coitus with Siffredi. ''Romance'' is one of several arthouse films featuring explicit,

unsimulated sex In the film industry, unsimulated sex is the presentation of sex scenes in which actors genuinely perform the depicted sex acts, rather than simulating them. Although it is ubiquitous in films intended as pornographic, it is very uncommon in ...

, along with ''

The Brown Bunny ''The Brown Bunny'' is a 2003 experimental road drama film written, directed, produced, photographed and edited by Vincent Gallo. Starring Gallo and Chloë Sevigny, it tells the story of a motorcycle racer on a cross-country drive who is haunt ...

'' (2003), ''

9 Songs ''9 Songs'' is a 2004 British art romantic drama film written and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film stars Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley. The title refers to the nine songs played by eight different rock bands that complement the s ...

'' (2004) and '' All About Anna'' (2005).

Plot

A young woman named Marie (Ducey) lives with her boyfriend, Paul (Stévenin), who refuses to have sex with her. She searches for intimacy beyond the bounds of traditional sexual limitations. She has a sexual relationship with Paolo (Siffredi), whom she meets in a bar. Her frustration also drives her to a series of relationships, until she engages in sadomasochism with an older man.

Cast

as Marie * Sagamore Stévenin as Paul *

as Robert *

as Paolo * Ashley Wanninger as Ashley * Emma Colberti as Charlotte * Fabien de Jomaron as Claude

Production

In an interview with The Post,

appeared to confirm the rumors of actual on-set sex. "An actor never pretends," she said. "At the same time, I'm not perverse. I don't impose on my actors or actresses any more than is absolutely necessary. But I don't pretend. I don't simulate. The deal was, we'd go as far as we had to, as far as the film required."

Broadcasting and ratings

In Europe, ''Romance'' was shown in mainstream cinemas; in the United States, it was reduced to a mainstream-acceptable R rating, and the European original version is un-rated. In the UK, the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of fi ...

passed the film uncut for cinemas, though home releases suffered a brief cut to an ejaculation shot. In March 2004, the original version was broadcast, late-night on German public television. In Australia, the original version of ''Romance'' was broadcast uncut on the cable television network

World Movies SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent and mainstream cinema and interviews with international movie stars. It was ...

. The film was initially refused classification in Australia, before it was awarded an R18+ on appeal. It single-handedly paved the way for actual sex to be accommodated in the R18+ classification in Australia. In Canada, particularly in Alberta and the Maritimes, the sexuality was seen as gratuitous to the film and it was given an A rating and XXX rating in those regions.Film classification listing for ''Romance''
at Maritime Film Classification Board (Rating is listed at bottom) In June 2008, in the Netherlands, the original version of ''Romance'' was broadcast on Dutch public TV by

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for , ) is a Dutch public broadcaster, which forms a part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Founded in 1926 as a liberal Protestant broadcasting organization, it gradually became more ...

as one of a series of ''Erotica'' art house cinema.

References

External links