Seven brief scenes, each with a couple, explore the surprises and the changes of heart that can occur during sexual encounters. Only one of the seven couples has been in bed together before; several are strangers or new acquaintances. A prostitute and her john, an older woman and a youth who follows her home, two women friends, a gay man with a straight man, a man with distinctive ideas about soap and water, a woman who wants the light left on, and a Spanish-speaking woman with a French-speaking man make for an array of possibilities and unanticipated consequences. The 7 bed scenes are titled: The Black Hole [Le trou noir]; Mr. Clean [Monsieur Propre]; Madame; Heads or Tails [Tête bêche]; The Ideal Man [L'homme idéal]; Love in the Dark [L'amour dans le noir]; and The Virgins [Les puceaux].
Direction
Ozon's surgical precision — every awkward silence lands perfectly.
Writing
Seven miniatures of desire, each with its own tiny gut-punch.
Director
François Ozon
Valérie Druguet
The prostitute in 'Black Hole'
François Delaive
Her john in 'Black Hole'
François Genty
The man in 'Heads or Tails'
Bruno Slagmulder
Frank in 'Love in the Dark'
Sébastien Charles
The gay lover in 'The Virgins'
Jérémie Elkaïm
Paul in 'The Virgins'
Pascale Arbillot
The blond in 'Ideal Man'
Camille Japy
The woman in 'Mr. Clean'
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Ozon's graduation film from La Fémis — he made it for basically nothing and it launched his career.
The title 'Tête bêche' is French philately slang for joined stamps facing opposite directions — perfectly describing the two men's incompatible desires.
FR
