TWIN FREAKS
L’AMANT DOUBLE I François Ozon gives us fifty shades of weird…
It’s a story about a woman on an inner journey to find out what’s wrong with her,” explains prolific French director François Ozon. He’s talking up L’Amant Double, a twisted psychosexual thriller that out-steams his 2003 movie Swimming Pool.
Based on Joyce Carol Oates’ Lives Of The Twins, the plot feels like a HitchcockDe Palma hybrid, as Marine Vacth’s Chloé becomes embroiled with identical twin psychotherapists Paul and Louis (both Jérémie Renier). Suspense, sex and gore ensue. “I wanted to mix in all these things,” says Ozon.
As part of his research, Ozon met with twins. “There are many stories,” he cries. “I could make many other films about twins. Quite fascinating. Especially when the twins are young, they play with that; they pretend to be the other one, and very often they use [this] for sex experiences. I would’ve loved to be a twin…”
Full of shocking moments, the film goes from explicit to horrific in the blink of an eye. No spoilers here but Ozon gets to play with the idea of cannibalism. “I wanted it to be gory at the end,” he says. “I’m not able to watch these kinds of movies, I’m afraid, but when it’s my movie, I’m very excited to make them.”
Sexually, it’s up there with Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, notably when Chloé penetrates her lover with a dildo – a moment that scared some potential actors off. “One very famous one said ‘yes’. I won’t give you the name. But then when I added the scene with the dildo, he said, ‘I’m not sure!’ Male actors are afraid of their virility being put into question.”
When the film premiered in Cannes, early reviews proclaimed it as far superior to the vanilla S&M yarn Fifty Shades Of Grey. “I have to see it,” says Ozon. “I haven’t seen it but everybody speaks about this film.
You were obliged to see this film;
I was not. Maybe it was a good film. Was it good?” He stops. “I hope
[this film] will be as successful as Fifty Shades…”
ETA | 1 JUNE / L’AMANT DOUBLE OPENS THIS SUMMER.