Mauvais genres (2001)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Francis Girod

Writers:

Francis Girod (scenario and dialogue) &
Philippe Cougrand (scenario and dialogue) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 August 2001 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Bo is a transexual prostitute in Brussels who left home after being abused by her father. She's now...

Plot Keywords:

Transexual | Prostitute | Abusive Relationship | Gay Interest | Gay Black Man

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Richard Bohringer	...	Huysmans
Robinson Stévenin	...	Bo
Stéphane Metzger	...	Johnny
William Nadylam	...	Maeva
Frédéric Pellegeay	...	Alex
Ginette Garcin	...	Louisette Vincent
Stéphane De Groodt	...	Pryzuski (as Stéphane de Groot)
Charlie Dupont	...	Courtois
Veronica Novak	...	Elvire
Micheline Presle	...	Violette Ancelin
Marcel Dossogne	...	Professeur Ancelin
Thibaut Corrion	...	Marlène
Jean-Michel Leray
Catherine Claeys
Julien Arame
Rebecca Potok
Sheila Trubacek
Michèle Robson
Jacques De Bock
Adrien Petrache
Michel Franssen
Philippe Goutier
Muriel Piette Ferrer
Patrick Ridremont
Jacques Monsen
Xavier Dujardin
Gaëtan Wenders
Daniel Dury
Rosario Amedeo
Marie Tellier
Sylvain Honorez
Georges Ruelle
Géraldine Demey
Philippe Cochin
Cathy Boquet
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Noël Baye
Adrien Castiglione
Olivier Charlet
Christian Dalimier
Eric Depreter
Sofia Dourbecker	...	Natasha
Charles Grégoire
Olivier Hemelaers
Jean Knepper
Jean Koerver
Elie Lison
Maryvonne Michel
Stéphane Pelzer
Jonathan Reynaert
Jean-Pierre Valère
Peter Van den Borre	...	Opera receptionist (uncredited)

Directed by
Francis Girod

Writing credits
Francis Girod		(scenario and dialogue) &
Philippe Cougrand		(scenario and dialogue)
Brigitte Aubert		(novel "Transfixions")

Produced by
Humbert Balsan	....	producer
Marie-Astrid Lamboray	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography by
Thierry Jault

Film Editing by
Isabelle Dedieu

Casting by
Ariane Corbiau
Célia Ducloux
Claire Paillotin

Production Design by
Perrine Rulens

Costume Design by
Nathalie Leborgne

Makeup Department
Stella Bertiglia	....	key hair stylist
Evelyne Byot	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Stéphane Lhoest	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Vincent Bell	....	second assistant director
Véronique Jadin	....	third assistant director

Art Department
François Bautier	....	swing gang
Guy Cantraine	....	props

Sound Department
Dominique Mazière	....	foley artist
Pascal Mazière	....	foley artist
Henri Morelle	....	sound
Claude Villand	....	sound mixer
Jean-Christophe Winding	....	sound editor (as Christophe Winding)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jacques Borguet	....	key grip
Boris Bourgois	....	grip
Jean Christophe Delinaoumis	....	assistant camera
Michel van Laer	....	second cinematographer
Olivier Merckx	....	Steadicam operator
Jean-Noël Viry	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Ariane Corbiau	....	casting: Belgium

Editorial Department
Mathilde Cousin	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Gaetano Donizetti	....	composer: song "Una furtiva lagrima" from "L'elisir d'amore"
Friedrich Hollaender	....	composer: song "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt"
Michel Legrand	....	composer: song "Chanson d'un jour d'été" from "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort"
Evelino Pidò	....	conductor: "Una furtiva lagrima"
Charles Trenet	....	composer: song "Vous qui passez sans me voir"

Other crew
Joëlle Keyser	....	script supervisor
Sofie Tusschans	....	assistant location manager
Peter Van den Borre	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Ognon Pictures
• France 3 Cinéma
• K2 SA (as K2)
• RTL
• RTL-TVi (as TVI)
• Canal+ (participation)
• France Télévision Images (participation)

Distributors

• Pyramide Distribution (2001) (France) (all media)
• France Télévision Distribution (2002) (France) (DVD)
• Picture This! Entertainment (2004) (Canada) (all media)
• Picture This! Entertainment (2004) (USA) (all media) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

Transfixed (Canada: English title) (festival title) (USA)
Bad Genres (International: English title) (festival title)
Gender Bias (USA)
Transfixions (France) (working title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France | Belgium

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

France:-12

Filming Locations:

Brussels, Belgium

Company:

Ognon Pictures

Movie Connections:

Featured in 2005 Glitter Awards (2005) (V)

glorious excesses

This film was recently recommended to me on a forum discussion concerning the best GLBT cinema. But Mauvais Genres is so good that I wouldn't say that it appeals only to such interest groups. It is excessively Hitchcockian (an adjective used far too often, but utterly justified in this case) in it's outlook. Indeed there are so many MacGuffins in this thriller involving props such as a microfilm or a heart-shaped box that you feel it edging almost into the territory of parody. As it is the movie stays at a more gleeful, vital, tone, revelling in homage. It is glossy enough for us to suggest that its tone comes from Hitchcock via de Palma. The music though seems directly inspired by such classic Hitchock scores as that in Vertigo.

There are in my opinion two characters in this movie of outstanding interest. First we have Bo, a transsexual entertainer, played by Robinson Stévenin, in what has to be one of the most outstanding performances that I have ever seen (winning the Cesar for best new actor). She is such an alive and beautiful person that it is truly painful when we see her subjected to violence. There is a subplot in the film concerning the fact that she was abused as a child and there are implications that her retreat into femininity is a coping strategy for dealing with that abuse. I'm in no way qualified to examine the risibility or otherwise of such claims, but certainly these thoughts may have been filtering through her mind and leading towards self-destructive behaviour.

The meat of the movie, which is only ostensibly a serial-killer thriller, is her love for Johnny, a clearly violent and handsome young man who has very mixed thoughts concerning transsexuals. Her love for him is so blind as to verge on self-immolation, her approaches undeterred by even a broken arm. I watch film to see excesses of emotions, and in her love for this psychotic individual, Bo's love becomes a fiery inferno that inundates her.

Johnny is also a very interesting character, he joined up in the foreign legion to see the tropics but, we are told, ended up waiting table at headquarters in Avignon. Metaphorically speaking perhaps that's what happens to most men in modern society. And you can certainly sense the frustration in this 'red-blooded' man for whom society is effectively a cage.