La confusion des genres

While it is definitely true that there are characters that do not experience a 180 degree change by the end of the film, the characters don't stay the same, either. And since that isn't the plot point that the movie hinges on, it doesn't feel like it matters in the end. The majority of the characters come across as very real people, three-dimensional, and not movie-clichés.

The actors are wonderful; there is no hesitation in any of the performances (even in the most revealing scenes). I bought the American DVD, which included a commentary with the director, and actors Pascal Greggory and Cyrille Thouvenin, and was especially delighted to find that they had done the commentary in English.

I've watched this only now because the poster and publicity back in 2001 didn't seem promising - decided to give it a try because of Julie Gayet, who is likely to become the next First Lady of France.

What pleasantly surprised me though is that it avoids wallowing in negative stereotypes of bisexuals, while at the same time not presenting its anti-hero as a likable guy. If there's one thing that I (as a queer person) find irritating about gay men is that they are rather demanding when it comes to respecting their identity, but unwilling to grant that respect to sexual orientations other than their own, with a particularly negative bias towards bisexuality. 'Confusion of Genders' toys with this quite admirably: the main character - through his bisexuality and brusque openness about it - constantly challenges the people around him into both attraction and repulsion.

His shifting affections and emotions are easily forgiven by his partners because he's open about them; being able to express his feelings clearly seems to make him irresistible - even though he is far from attractive and (too) often just telling his lovers to buzz off. But they seem to prefer even the most complex relationships over loneliness and lies - that's where the strange dry humor of this piece comes from. Needless to say, this will infuriate those who come to this with the expectation of a bit of silly antics and skin, which explains its low rating. Be warned that this is by no means an easy film to watch, even though it is good for quite a few laughs.

'Confusion of Genders' is both a (sometimes overbearingly) intellectual farce and a step away from the usual gay/gender-bender clichés. If you're bi and frustrated about being vilified in (not just) gay-themed fiction, this one is for you. If you're anything else, open-minded and tired of being fed the same old sexuality-based stereotypes over and over again, you might like this as well.

At the first sigh, an easy French comedy. Nice, seductive, proposing a large ball of sentimental relations, a confuse lawyer and a gallery of characters around him, a wife and a boyfriend and a client in huge confusion of sentiments but decised to demonstrate his love to his girfriend , an lawyer looking for certitudes and real love, for happiness and comfortable compromises.

At the second view, it can be a provocative challenge to reflection about the other and yourself, about life stuffs and proper options.

In both perspectives, a smart crafted film .The cast remains the basic virtue of the film -, from Pascal Greggory and Vincent Martinez to Cyrille Thovenin, not ignoring Nathalie Richard and Julie Gayet.

"Confusion of Genders" is all about Alain, a wishy-washy lawyer and mostly gay bisexual who has a male lover, a female fiancé, and another female who is lusting after him for reasons unknown. Although the film is well crafted with believable performances and solid production value, the story is a depressingly misanthropic satire in which no one has a good word to say to anyone during the entire run leaving us, the audience, detached and with no one to care about. The result is a less than satisfying watch with a bad after taste, when combined with lots of inconsequential dialogue and, hence, subtitle reading will make for a less than desirable watch for most. Only for French film fanatics who don't mind lots of graphic gay sex. (B-)

The "confusion" here is more a plethora, an embarrassment of riches and of choices. At the center of every scene is bisexual (or is he just gay?) lawyer Alain (Pascal Greggory). Everybody wants him, or thinks he wants them -- handsome imprisoned murderer Marc (Vincent Martinez), cute gay boy Christophe (Cyrille Thouvenin), attractive and accomplished law partner Laurence (Nathalie Richard, who's more Alain's age); the prisoner's (former) girlfriend Babette (Julie Gayet); Marc's prison-mate Étienne (noted singer Alain Bashung) even gets amusingly involved at the end. Alain and his law partner are talking about marrying, and it's all practical and boring, except that it's impulsive too. Through it all Pascal Greggory has that bored, annoyed look he always has; but he registers a lot of other looks too -- he's a skillful movie actor and for good reason one of the busiest in France. This is very French, a sort of comedy of ill humor, sex, and indecision. The hilariously grumpy and irritable "haute bourgeoisie" relatives of Laurence and Alain who come into play when wedding bells are in the offing include the great Bulle Ogier as Laurence's mother. The various nude scenes aren't just titillation; they're all skillfully and sometimes hilariously illustrative of characters and situations and of Alain's "embarras du choix."

"La Confusion des genres" is dry and amusing and well paced and has an excellent cast but it's very French and you wouldn't necessarily expect it to go over well with Americans, and it didn't. US critics pretty much hated it. On Metacritic it got a 39. Many American viewers think it's pretentious and unfunny. They miss the witty but blunt dialogue (which all the French critics complement), and they don't appreciate Greggory, who's perfect here, or the delicately observed range of French social and personality types. This is as good a treatment of the pains and pleasures of the bisexual life as seen from the French 21st-century standpoint as, at the time, was John Schlesinger's very English (1971) "Sunday Bloody Sunday"; but as a movie it doesn't carry quite as much weight and clearly like some wines it does not travel well.

Doing the voice-over commentary in English for the American DVD didn't turn out very well either. Director Duran Cohen studied at NYU Film School and and is fluent, but he's paired with Greggory and Thouvenin, who're pretty tongue-tied, and the conversation never gets going. Why didn't they do it in French with subtitles as Kassovitz, Cassel, and Reno did so entertainingly for the US "Crimson Rivers" DVD? Then maybe they would have been more relaxed and talkative, as the "Crimson Rivers" team was, and something more informative would have resulted.