Catherine Breillat: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

ABOUT THE SERIES: 

The American Cinematheque is thrilled to pay tribute to the iconic French filmmaker and novelist, Catherine Breillat, with a 14-film retrospective celebrating her as one of the seminal and most uncompromising voices of French cinema over the last half-century. A professor of auteur theory herself, Breillat has established her own place in film history by creating stylized masterpieces which speak to themes of female sexuality, sexual politics, and the silence that fills the space between adolescence and womanhood.

The retrospective begins with a Limited Engagement run of Breillat’s newest film, LAST SUMMER, a quiet exploration of familial fragility in the form of an erotic drama, in which she presents her protagonists with such care and an attention to detail, shattering stereotypical expectations that audiences may have for them. As per usual, her characters are flawed and even abhorrent, observable in such films of hers as DIRTY LIKE AN ANGEL or ABUSE OF WEAKNESSES. Breillat is never judgemental, just curious; a quality that is evident in her characterization of the protagonists in BRIEF CROSSING. Still, she is undoubtedly one of French cinema’s ultimate provocateurs, even casting porn actor Rocco Siffredi in her films ROMANCE and ANATOMY OF HELL.

Breillat is notorious for hostaging her audience and inviting them into long takes of scenes depicting sexual negotiations to emphasize the politics of sex, most notably in FAT GIRL. Her film SEX IS COMEDY is based on Breillat’s own experience directing her actors in the uncomfortable moments of FAT GIRL. While the majority of her works are similar in themes, and thus are in some ways in-dialogue with each other, one of the defining characteristics of Breillat’s oeuvre and how her work has remained fresh over the decades, is her forays into various genres. With THE LAST MISTRESS, BLUEBEARD, and THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, Breillat pointed her provocative lens into the worlds of period pieces and fantasy. Also a part of this retrospective are the newest 4K restorations of A REAL YOUNG GIRL, 36 FILLETTE, and PERFECT LOVE.