Sexfish

Disconcerting,bewildering ,definitely off the beaten track ,this is not a very accessible movie,and many viewers might feel giving up after half an hour.

It may be depicted as an ecological sci-fi movie, and let's hope not prophetic...

In an indefinite future,all the fish have disappeared ,and in the empty sea, the last whale ,Miranda , has changed course;in a laboratory , scientists have preserved the last species ;one of them,an American-the actor is not very convincing ,speaking French without an accent ,and never uttering a word in his first language- whose family has remained in his native land and whose wife has severed links with him , has been studying the fish's language for five years and now he's able to understand them : one strange muted fish /batrachian is even able to use the human language .In parallel, he longs for a child , but in this bizarre era , love-making seems to have disappeared and they only use surrogate mothers .( a rather unpleasant scene of masturbation is downright embarrassing in this kind of offbeat work).

This may be a warning (there are many endangered species all over the earth ; the bees ,for example),a plea for a return to human relationships between men (the last pictures) , but the movie will certainly puzzle you.

Poissonsexe is a quaint and unassuming piece of art that speaks of simple things like warmth, empathy, kindness and love using the language of fairy tales and metaphors. I would call it a wonderful fable for those who are no longer children but still enjoy this childlike narrative, where animals talk on the phone; the Snow Queen speaks French with a Scandinavian accent, and the Prince is a desperate scientist in his deep forties who never stops dreaming. The film is both funny and sad, and extremely humane and heartwarming, visually and sonically very stylish - all in all making your evening unusually cozy.

PS: The elegant bande sonore by JB Dunckel from Air adds wonderfully to its charm.