Gazon maudit (1995)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Josiane Balasko

Writers:

Patrick Aubrée (writer)
Josiane Balasko (writer)

Release Date:

19 January 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A scorned wife. An outrageous affair. The perfect marriage.

Plot:

After learning of her husband's infidelities, a housewife invites an itinerant lesbian to move in with them. None of their lives will ever be the same again.

Plot Keywords:

Lesbian | Bath | Lesbianism | Female Frontal Nudity | Nudity

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Victoria Abril	...	Loli
Josiane Balasko	...	Marijo
Alain Chabat	...	Laurent Lafaye
Ticky Holgado	...	Antoine
Catherine Hiegel	...	Dany
Catherine Samie	...	The Prostitute
Catherine Lachens	...	Sopha, the Boss
Katrine Boorman	...	Emily Crumble
Telsche Boorman	...	Dorothy Crumble
Véronique Barrault	...	Vero
Sylvie Audcoeur	...	Ingrid
Michèle Bernier	...	Solange
Maureen Diot	...	Cristelle
Miguel Bosé	...	Diego, the Young Man
Jean-Luc Violet	...	Barman

Also Known As:

Bushwhacked
French Twist (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and language.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) (2005) | UK:18 (original rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Avignon, Vaucluse, France

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

The French title (literally "Dreadful Lawn"), is a crude expression for pubic hair.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At one moment, Laurent and Antoine are going to bicycle together and stop to have lunch. Laurent gets drunk and when he starts riding again his bike in a rather dangerous manner, Antoine goes after him and shouts "Alain, fais pas le con!" ("Alain, don't be stupid!"), calling the actor Alain Chabat by his real name instead of his character's name, Laurent.

Soundtrack:

A WHITER SHADE OF PALE

A witty and observant comedy.

Loli, played by Victoria Abril, has given up a promising career as a dancer to become the wife of a womanising estate agent; and though she knows of one woman he has had an affair with and has forgiven him, she knows nothing about any of the others - not even her own baby-sitter! No. Her main complaint against him is not his promiscuity but that he takes her for granted and shows her little affection. So, when a butch lesbian, played by Josiane Balasko, appears on the scene, stopping at the house to ask for water for her van's radiator, she is a ripe fruit waiting to be picked. And this kind, mature, worldly-wise lesbian is an expert in the art of seduction.

On an evening out together, the husband, played by Alain Chabat, already annoyed at the lesbian's intrusion into his home with his wife's encouragement, is driven into a blind fury when he discovers the lesbian's hand half way up his wife's thigh and sees them dancing together in a way that is very intimate. From this follow many scenes of shouting and screaming, jealousy and rage. You feel for the husband's usurpation and his humiliation at being rejected for a lesbian - though you rejoice at his come-uppance - and you feel for the wife who deserves the affection she has been so long denied, and you feel for the lesbian with a loving heart who wants only to make the wife happy - though others may condemn her for destroying a relatively happy marriage. The husband hates her so much and is so desperate to get rid of her that he is willing to do anything to get her to leave.

But despite all the passion and jealousy this is a light comedy and not a heavy drama, and you have the feeling all along that everything will work out well in the end. And it does. The moral of the story, affirmed at the end, is that the only things that matter are love, tenderness and affection and if we get those the source's sexual gender is immaterial; we are all bisexual.

This is a bright, witty and observant comedy, well-acted, particularly by Victoria Abril,