Laurent is an obnoxious fourteen-year-old boy who has two brothers almost as obnoxious as he is and a father who is not bad in the obnoxious department himself. He also has a mother, Clara, who seems to be a nice, warm-hearted, loving person. She needs to ditch that family, but when she gets the chance to run off with her lover, who is just as obnoxious as her family, I guess she figures, "What's the point?"
Because Clara is so affectionate and sensual, and because she and Laurent end up having to stay in a hotel room together, we quickly figure out that we are being prepared for a little oedipal hanky-panky. Now, in a movie in which a boy has sex with his mother, we figure one of two things will happen: either he will turn into some kind of Norman Bates psycho, or the incestuous affair will be a deep, meaningful, transformative experience for the lad. Since the movie is French, I anticipated the latter. I assumed that as a result of his having sex with his mother, he would stop being obnoxious and start being nice, warm-hearted, and loving, just like her. Nope. By the end of the movie, he is still his same old rotten self.
Before they have sex, his mother says that they will just do it one time, and then they will never talk about it again. Oh sure. For all her worldly experience, she does not seem to know much about men. You can't give them a taste and expect them to go away and forget about how good it was. She had a husband who was very jealous when they were first in love, and she had a lover who was very jealous, and now she thinks her son won't end up being a jealous lover too? Of course, the movie indicates that they will forget about the fact that they had sex, because Louis Malle, the writer and director, wanted it that way. But it's not realistic, so don't try this at home.
Not that I would know personally, but I suspect that having sex with your mother would be enough excitement for one evening. But as soon as Clara falls asleep, Laurent gets dressed and heads on down the hall for little action with someone his own age. He wakes up one girl, propositions her with his usual obnoxious manner, and when she runs him off, he heads on down the hall to the next one, where, for some mysterious reason, he actually succeeds.
In a time when gender equality is the ideal, the double standard regarding the sexes is looked upon with disfavor. This movie makes us realize that in some respects, the double standard will never be completely eliminated, nor should it. Just imagine a similar movie, but one in which a man has sex with his fourteen-year-old daughter, which the movie would have us regard as being a meaningful act of love. I say imagine it, because you know darn well you will never see such a movie.
Finally, because Laurent is Catholic, I could not help trying to imagine how his next confession is going to go. I wonder how many Hail Marys you have to say for having sex with your mother.
Because Clara is so affectionate and sensual, and because she and Laurent end up having to stay in a hotel room together, we quickly figure out that we are being prepared for a little oedipal hanky-panky. Now, in a movie in which a boy has sex with his mother, we figure one of two things will happen: either he will turn into some kind of Norman Bates psycho, or the incestuous affair will be a deep, meaningful, transformative experience for the lad. Since the movie is French, I anticipated the latter. I assumed that as a result of his having sex with his mother, he would stop being obnoxious and start being nice, warm-hearted, and loving, just like her. Nope. By the end of the movie, he is still his same old rotten self.
Before they have sex, his mother says that they will just do it one time, and then they will never talk about it again. Oh sure. For all her worldly experience, she does not seem to know much about men. You can't give them a taste and expect them to go away and forget about how good it was. She had a husband who was very jealous when they were first in love, and she had a lover who was very jealous, and now she thinks her son won't end up being a jealous lover too? Of course, the movie indicates that they will forget about the fact that they had sex, because Louis Malle, the writer and director, wanted it that way. But it's not realistic, so don't try this at home.
Not that I would know personally, but I suspect that having sex with your mother would be enough excitement for one evening. But as soon as Clara falls asleep, Laurent gets dressed and heads on down the hall for little action with someone his own age. He wakes up one girl, propositions her with his usual obnoxious manner, and when she runs him off, he heads on down the hall to the next one, where, for some mysterious reason, he actually succeeds.
In a time when gender equality is the ideal, the double standard regarding the sexes is looked upon with disfavor. This movie makes us realize that in some respects, the double standard will never be completely eliminated, nor should it. Just imagine a similar movie, but one in which a man has sex with his fourteen-year-old daughter, which the movie would have us regard as being a meaningful act of love. I say imagine it, because you know darn well you will never see such a movie.
Finally, because Laurent is Catholic, I could not help trying to imagine how his next confession is going to go. I wonder how many Hail Marys you have to say for having sex with your mother.