Wild Side (2004)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Sébastien Lifshitz

Writers:

Stéphane Bouquet (writer)
Sébastien Lifshitz (writer)

Release Date:

14 April 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A transsexual who survives prostituting herself in Paris, returns - with her two male lovers in tow - to her family home in the countryside to look after her dying mother.

Plot Keywords:

Transexual | Male Prostitute | Gay Interest

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Stéphanie Michelini	...	Stéphanie
Yasmine Belmadi	...	Djamel
Edouard Nikitine	...	Mikhail
Josiane Stoléru	...	La mère
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paris Benjamin	...	Prostitute
Aurélie Guichard
Antony Hegarty	...	Le chanteur
Liliane Nataf
Christophe Sermet	...	Nicolas

Directed by
Sébastien Lifshitz

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Stéphane Bouquet		writer
Sébastien Lifshitz		writer

Produced by
Chris Curling	....	co-producer
Phil Robertson	....	production executive producer
Gilles Sandoz	....	producer
Christian Tison	....	executive producer
Eric van Beuren	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Jocelyn Pook

Cinematography by
Agnès Godard

Film Editing by
Stéphanie Mahet

Production Design by
Véronique Melery
Roseanna Sacco		(as Roseanna Sacco-Colas)

Costume Design by
Elisabeth Mehu

Makeup Department
Anne Moralis	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Olivier Guerbois	....	production manager
Gaëtane Josse	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Florence Gatineau-Saillant	....	trainee assistant director
Philippe Thiollier	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Thaddée Bertrand	....	dialogue editor
Yolande Decarsin	....	sound
Cyril Holtz	....	sound re-recording mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Antoine Struyf	....	second assistant camera

Editorial Department
Thaddée Bertrand	....	assistant editor
Jason Wheeler	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Steve Parr	....	music mixer
Steve Parr	....	music recordist

Other crew
Christophe Besnard	....	assistant to producer
Tatiana Bouchain	....	assistant to producer
Karen Waks	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Maïa Films
• YC Alligator Film
• Zephyr Films
• arte France Cinéma
• AB3
• Canal+ (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)

Distributors

• Peccadillo Pictures (2005) (UK) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Mikado (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Wellspring Media (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Xenix Filmdistribution (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• firstchoicefilms (2004) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Ad Vitam Distribution (France)
• Alberto Bitelli Intl. Films (2005) (Brazil) (all media)
• Impuls Home Entertainment (2005) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Paris Filmes (2004) (Brazil) (all media)

Runtime:

France:93 min | USA:93 min | Belgium:110 min

Country:

France | Belgium | UK

Language:

English | Russian | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:(Banned) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | France:-12 | Netherlands:16 | UK:18 | Brazil:18

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Maïa Films

Compassionate observation that goes beyond gender and race

It was clear with "Come Undone" that Sebastian Lifshitz is a director very much worth watching. "Wild Side", despite its shortcomings, reaffirms his rare talents. His forte is in creating pensive, moody pieces, with a powerful and moving realism. This he does with great precision utilizing light and camera with far greater care than we have become used to. There is a sense of an artist at work. Added to this, he has an astonishing gift for evoking extremely moving and convincing performances from his actors.

The problem with "Wild Side" is that it is devoid of plot and has almost no character development. The mood is what keeps the viewer captivated. While this in itself is not unrewarding, a stronger storyline would certainly have added much. The film terminates suddenly and unexpectedly, usually signifying a lack of inner logic. It could have ended at any point with the same result.

The disparate trio of transsexual, bisexual hustler and Russian immigrant is observed in a totally non judgemental manner and with genuine compassion. This is the films true strength. While flashbacks furnish very sparse information about the transsexual's childhood, almost nothing of the remaining protagonist's backgrounds is revealed. Lifshtz's aim is not to try to understand these social outcasts and their aberrant behaviours but rather to connect us with them on a human level that goes beyond definition of gender are race.