French Twist, also known as "Gazon Maudit" in France, is a French Sexual-Comedy film which playfully explores some aspects of homosexuality, gender roles, infidelity, and homophobia. The subjects explored in the movie may sound heavy on paper, but in the actual context of the film were used more as a means to carry the comedy itself. That is to say, the themes in the film, while not commonly explored, were not overly-subversive in a sense which would the film a "heavy" feeling.
The comedic situations take place between the three main characters; Laurent, his wife Loli, and a lesbian DJ/drifter Marijo. The film establishes quite early that since Laurent is an infidel and emotionally neglectful to his wife Loli, Loli engaging in homosexually promiscuous behavior with Marijo is not necessarily a betrayal to their marriage. The psychology of this sort of 'revenge' against the neglectful husband is what prevents the audience from seeing Loli as a wretched being.
Most of the comedy is based around awkward situations created by Marijo's attraction to Loli. Some gender stereotypes and sexist perspectives are explored mainly through Laurent's behavior, and conversations between him and his perverted friend. Laurent states that he could understand his wife being promiscuous with a female, "But with that?", implying that he would support lesbianism only in the case of both females being attractive. Laurent also states that it is acceptable for males to be sexual infidels to their spouse, but not for females to do so. Also considering that Loli gave up her ambitions as a dancer to be a "housewife" with Laurent implies that upon marrying Laurent, she had to conform to a certain gender role. Homophobia is also explored in the sense that it seems as if his wife's homosexual explorations must be accepted by Laurent for him to progress as a character, and solve the issue between him and Loli. The film playfully toys with these concepts by placing Marijo as the factor who upsets the status-quo, and quickly becomes the forefront of the chaos that ensues. Even with such aspects in the film, it consistently maintains a light-tone throughout the narrative.
The film itself manages to incorporate what may be considered taboo subject matter by some, into a narrative which could be enjoyed by anyone (particularly in large groups/class screenings, etc.) If there was ever an outrage which occurred regarding the film's content, the cause of the outrage is probably more regional/cultural rather than being incited by the film's content itself. The film does portray homosexuality, infidelity, nudity, sex, verbal cursing, and drug-use; which justifies it's R-rating; though considering the film is rated "Everyone" in France, it becomes evident that any sort of backlash regarding the film is justified or not depending on the moral standings of the particular region in which the film is being viewed. Even with that said, I would not show this film to children because of the nudity, sex scenes, heavy language, and drug-use.
The film is a comedy as being its base-genre, so in that sense the film was hilarious in the many awkward and uncommon situations that were portrayed. I would recommend this film to fans of foreign-comedies/relationship comedies who do not hold strong moral prejudices against subversive topics.
The comedic situations take place between the three main characters; Laurent, his wife Loli, and a lesbian DJ/drifter Marijo. The film establishes quite early that since Laurent is an infidel and emotionally neglectful to his wife Loli, Loli engaging in homosexually promiscuous behavior with Marijo is not necessarily a betrayal to their marriage. The psychology of this sort of 'revenge' against the neglectful husband is what prevents the audience from seeing Loli as a wretched being.
Most of the comedy is based around awkward situations created by Marijo's attraction to Loli. Some gender stereotypes and sexist perspectives are explored mainly through Laurent's behavior, and conversations between him and his perverted friend. Laurent states that he could understand his wife being promiscuous with a female, "But with that?", implying that he would support lesbianism only in the case of both females being attractive. Laurent also states that it is acceptable for males to be sexual infidels to their spouse, but not for females to do so. Also considering that Loli gave up her ambitions as a dancer to be a "housewife" with Laurent implies that upon marrying Laurent, she had to conform to a certain gender role. Homophobia is also explored in the sense that it seems as if his wife's homosexual explorations must be accepted by Laurent for him to progress as a character, and solve the issue between him and Loli. The film playfully toys with these concepts by placing Marijo as the factor who upsets the status-quo, and quickly becomes the forefront of the chaos that ensues. Even with such aspects in the film, it consistently maintains a light-tone throughout the narrative.
The film itself manages to incorporate what may be considered taboo subject matter by some, into a narrative which could be enjoyed by anyone (particularly in large groups/class screenings, etc.) If there was ever an outrage which occurred regarding the film's content, the cause of the outrage is probably more regional/cultural rather than being incited by the film's content itself. The film does portray homosexuality, infidelity, nudity, sex, verbal cursing, and drug-use; which justifies it's R-rating; though considering the film is rated "Everyone" in France, it becomes evident that any sort of backlash regarding the film is justified or not depending on the moral standings of the particular region in which the film is being viewed. Even with that said, I would not show this film to children because of the nudity, sex scenes, heavy language, and drug-use.
The film is a comedy as being its base-genre, so in that sense the film was hilarious in the many awkward and uncommon situations that were portrayed. I would recommend this film to fans of foreign-comedies/relationship comedies who do not hold strong moral prejudices against subversive topics.