J'ai horreur de l'amour

Directed by Laurence Ferreira Barbosa and produced by the notorious state-subsidy-seeker artist Paulo Branco,this movie went into the Official Selection of the 1996 Cannes Festival.The plot captures several typically French characters in a speech about love.

excerpt, full review at my location.

J'ai Horreur de L'amour is an entanglement of genres and ideas. It dances over crossed paths of comedy and tragedy; it casts a shadow over its ironic humour with a touch of death and homicidal madness. Director Laurence Ferreira Barbosa introduces us to her talents at portraying the eccentricities of people in this obscure take on a skewed love triangle, with protagonist Annie becoming involved in various relationships which all have sinister undertones.

J'ai Horreur de L'amour is an intriguing and honest exploration of death, madness and relationships. The subject of AIDS underpins the entire film, and yet it is not the focal point, allowing room to show off Barbosa's excellence at writing dry comedy. However, the film's potential as a serious statement remains hindered by its fantastic humour, and vice versa. J'ai Horreur de L'amour is by no means a failure; but the film as a whole doesn't quite have the power to become a masterpiece.