Le jeu avec le feu (1975)

Director:

Alain Robbe-Grillet

Writer:

Alain Robbe-Grillet (written by)

Release Date:

19 June 1975 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Sex | Hostage | Female Full Frontal Nudity | Paris France

Cast

Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Franz / Francis
Philippe Noiret	...	Georges de Saxe / Ses doubles
Anicée Alvina	...	Carolina de Saxe
Sylvia Kristel	...	Diana Van Den Berg
Agostina Belli	...	Maria, la servande des Saxe
Serge Marquand	...	Mathias
Charles Millot	...	Un ravisseur
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Un messager
Jacques Seiler	...	Le chauffeur de taxi / Le domestique d'Erica / Le prêtre
Michel Berto	...	L'adjoint du commissaire
Christine Boisson	...	Christina, la fille dans la malle / Desdémone
Marc Mazza	...	Un messager
Jacques Doniol-Valcroze	...	Le commissaire Laurent (as J. Doniol-Valcloze)
Nathalie Zeiger	...	Tania, la fille aux chiens
Joëlle Coeur	...	La mariée

Also Known As:

Giochi di fuoco (Italy)
Playing with Fire (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:112 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15 | Netherlands:16

Company:

Arcadie Productions

Soundtrack:

Il Trovatore

Art or Porn...Or Does It Matter?

A series of elegantly kinky erotic tableaux, strung together by a mock-thriller plot, this may be Alain Robbe-Grillet's most linear and accessible film. Mind you, an 'accessible' Robbe-Grillet is like a 'good' Ben Affleck movie. Strictly a relative term, and allowances have to be made.

The plot (as far as I can discern one) has Philippe Noiret as a corrupt tycoon teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Desperate to raise a few francs, he decides to fake the kidnapping of his own daughter (Anicee Alvina) and pocket the ransom. He locks the girl up for safe-keeping in a deluxe Art Nouveau brothel, where he himself is a regular client.

In real life, this 'brothel' is the interior of the Palais Garnier - for years the theatre of the Paris Opera. This may be symbolic in some highly obscure way; offscreen voices keep warbling snatches of Il Trovatore. The randy Robbe-Grillet, meanwhile, indulges in all his usual fetishes: torture, lesbianism, necrophilia... One young lady has a 'close personal friendship' with a mastiff hound.

Participating in the fun and games are a young and exceptionally lovely Sylvia Kristel and French soft-porno legend Joelle Coeur. The images are so glacially beautiful, they look like a Helmut Newton photo album sprung to life. Yet are we to take this as a serious avant-garde experiment in the style of Alain Resnais? Or is it just a slice of arty smut? Robbe-Grillet himself seems not to know the answer. Or if he does, he's keeping it well-hidden.