Sex Is Comedy
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCatherine Breillat
Written byCatherine Breillat
Produced byJean-François Lepetit
Starring
CinematographyLaurent Machuel
Edited byPascale Chavance
Production
companies
Distributed byRézo Films
Release dates
  • May 2002 (2002-05) (Cannes)
  • 5 June 2002 (2002-06-05) (France)
Running time
95 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Portugal
Languages
  • French
  • Portuguese

Sex Is Comedy is a 2002 comedy-drama film written and directed by Catherine Breillat.[1] It revolves around a director (Anne Parillaud) and her troubles filming an intimate sex scene between two actors who cannot tolerate each other.

Based on Breillat's experiences directing her 2001 film Fat Girl, the climax of the film features a recreation of a scene from that film, shot from the point of view of the crew, with Roxane Mesquida essentially reprising her role from the first film.

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on reviews from 47 critics, with an average rating of 6.3/10.[2] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]

Nev Pierce of BBC praised the direction by Catherine Breillat, writing "[She] does effectively capture the 'hurry up and wait' atmosphere of a film set, and draws excellent performances from all involved".[4]

Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine called the film an "ego trip",[5] while Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said that he is not sure "what it's really about, or how to get there".[6]

According to John Anderson of the Chicago Tribune "It may be impossible ever to watch a sex scene again after seeing Catherine Breillat's Sex Is Comedy. And that may precisely be the point".[7]

In a review for The A.V. Club, Scott Tobias wrote, "Sex Is Comedy triumphs mostly in laying out the specific mechanics of a love scene",[8] while Ruthe Stein of San Francisco Chronicle criticized the film for being "[a]nnoying, soporific and, despite its title, singularly humorless".[9]

References

  1. ↑ Scott, A. O. (20 October 2004). "On a Movie Set, Using Stand-Ins for Actors and Director". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 December 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Sex Is Comedy (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "Sex Is Comedy (2004)". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  4. ↑ Pierce, Nev (15 July 2003). "Sex is Comedy (2003)". BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Gonzalez, Ed (15 June 2004). "Review: Sex Is Comedy". Slant Magazine.
  6. ↑ Ebert, Roger (2 December 2004). "Nothing funny about 'Sex Is Comedy'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 13 August 2021 – via RogerEbert.com.
  7. ↑ Anderson, John (3 December 2004). "'Sex is Comedy'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  8. ↑ Tobias, Scott (18 October 2004). "Sex Is Comedy". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  9. ↑ Stein, Ruthe (24 December 2004). "It's French, it's sexy, yet it's dull". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

Further reading

  • Ince, Kate. (2006) ‘Is Sex Comedy or Tragedy? Directing Desire and Female Auteurship in the Cinema of Catherine Breillat’, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 64(1), pp. 157–164.
  • Wheatley, Catherine. (2010) ‘Contested Interactions: Watching Catherine Breillat’s Scenes of Sexual Violence’, Journal for Cultural Research, 14(1), pp. 27–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/14797580903363066


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