Une partie de plaisir

Pleasure Party is yet another offering from the great Claude Chabrol that puts it's central focus on the director's all time favourite subject; that being infidelity. The director has explored this topic previously in films such as The Unfaithful Wife and Wedding in Blood (among others), but Pleasure Party stands out because it's an overall much darker tale than what went before, and may well be a contender for Chabrol's all time darkest film. The film really is not much fun at all to watch, but I would liken it to a car crash - the similarity being the fact that it's difficult to take your eyes off what you're seeing, despite perhaps wanting to. The plot focuses on married couple Philippe and Esther who live with their young daughter Elise. After an awkward conversation one day in which Philippe admits infidelity, it is decided (mostly from his side) that they should see other people as well as each other. It's not long before this plan backfires in spectacular fashion as Ester meets Habib and Phillipe becomes very jealous of their relationship...

Despite the ugly plot, in typical Chabrol fashion; the film is very nice to look at, which offsets the tone of the film nicely. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and as ever, the director pulls good performances out of all his lead performers. Paul Gégauff may not quite have the screen presence of Jean Yanne or Michel Bouquet, but the character fits him like a glove and I really cant see anyone else in the role. His wife, Danièle Gegauff, plays second fiddle somewhat to her co-star, but also puts in a very good and believable performance. The film really all centres on the leading man, which isn't surprising since the actor is also the scriptwriter. Everything about the story flows from his character and the film is actually more about his ego and need to control his wife than it is about infidelity. The film does not feature shocks and thrills - rather it is a continual and intense grinding down of the audience as we witness the lead character self destruct, become a shadow of himself, and take down everyone around him. Pleasure Party is not one of Chabrol's best films; but it's an undoubtedly interesting movie from one of France's premier film directors.

This study of a violent, narcissistic, bully and his relationships would be creepy enough on its own, but the nagging feeling that the main characters are all actually playing thinly veiled versions of themselves makes the skin crawl that much more. We can start with the title: 'partie de plaisir' is an idiom for something enjoyable and easily accomplished--a piece of cake--which ranks this with Haneke's 'Funny Games' and 'Happy End' on scale of ironic titles. Paul Gégauff, also credited with the screenplay, one of many he wrote for a who's who of the nouvelle vague, plays Philippe, the protagonist. Danièle Gégauff, his ex-wife when the film was shot, plays Esther, the enigmatic woman on the receiving end of his humiliation and violence. Their daughter plays Élise, their daughter. Much like the films of Maurice Pialat (A nos amours), we're not always sure who's acting and who's just acting out. And perhaps most amazingly, as we watch in horror, most of Paul's circle of friends just laugh it all off and ask for another glass of the '61 Margaux. Like the proverbial car wreck, you can't look and you can't look away.

In the cinema of Claude Chabrol the bourgeoisie are distinctly lacking in charm, discreet or otherwise and none more so than Phillipe and Esther, the well-to-do couple at the centre of UNE PARTIE DE PLAISIR, who, at Phillipe's insistence, decide to have an open marriage but when Esther looks like she's falling for the first guy she sleeps with, Phillipe gets very jealous indeed.

The territory is, of course, typically Chabrolian but what makes this movie interesting as well as creepy and finally very unpleasant is that it would appear to explore the disintegrating marriage of its stars Paul Gegauff and Daniele Gegauff. Paul wrote the film in what appears to be a kind of exorcism though neither 'actor' rises above the one-dimensional. Nevertheless, Chabrol definitely embraces them treating them with more respect than either of them deserves. It may fit perfectly into Chabrol's world view of things but it's still a pretty hateful movie.

If you look at the picture on IMDb, it's the same one you see on the DVD for this film--a very sexy redhead who is naked. Did you know that this redhead is only in the film for a couple minutes and that you see her naked for only about two seconds?! Yet, this is how the unscrupulous jerks have marketed the film!! Talk about false advertising!! As for the movie itself, I found it to be a real mixed bag--and the bad slightly outweighs the good. While it started off with an interesting premise, as the film progressed it became more and more unpleasant--as well as more and more difficult to believe.

The film begins with a couple who seem to be in love. Some time passes and the husband, quite stupidly, tells his wife he's had some affairs and she's free to do so if she wishes--as it won't hurt their strong relationship. However, when she begins to sleep with other men, two things happen--he becomes possessive and jealous and her 'flings' evolve into serious relationships, not just one night stands. Eventually, the two split up and their relationship is over. Now already this is not an especially pleasant film--but it gets MUCH darker and nastier. I'd say more, but, well...I didn't really care at this point.

Perhaps the film is saying that affairs are bad or that they are bad if they are serious. Or, perhaps none of these...and it's just a film about a couple of idiots. Regardless, I just didn't care about anyone and the ending was just depressing and unnecessary. Despite director Chabrol's fame, I just wasn't impressed by this film. It seemed superficial, dull and I couldn't have cared less about them.

Phew! Well, this is certainly no bundle of fun. What an ugly film, was my first thought as I stared at the closing credits. As a seasoned film fan, one is always put on guard when a male lead tells his partner that she should experiment with sleeping with other people. He would not be jealous - oh yea! But here things go from bad to really awful and as someone else has noted it is almost inconceivable that one would be likely to choose to revisit this little number. Having said all that, to discover than long time Chabrol script writer, Paul Gegauff, not only wrote this nasty piece but plays the male lead in question. Not only that but his real life wife plays the appallingly treated partner AND that their actual daughter, plays their screen daughter, just about the only light relief this movie has. Hard to recommend to non Chabrol fans but certainly a powerful piece of cinema.