Anatomy of Hell (2004)

A woman employs a gay man to spend four nights at her house to watch her when she's "unwatchable".

Director:

Catherine Breillat

Writer:

Catherine Breillat (based on the novel "Pornocratie")

Stars:

Amira Casar, Rocco Siffredi, Alexandre Belin

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Amira Casar	...	The Woman
Rocco Siffredi	...	The Man
Alexandre Belin	...	Blow-job lover 1
Manuel Taglang	...	Blow-job lover 2
Jacques Monge	...	Man in bar
Claudio Carvalho	...	Boy with the Bird
Carolina Lopes	...	Little Girl
Diego Rodrigues	...	Little boy playing doctor (as 'Diogo Rodriques')
Diogo Rodriques	...	Boy Playing Doctor
João Marques	...	Boy Playing Doctor
Bruno Fernandes	...	Little boy playing doctor
Maria Edite Moreira	...	Pharmacist 1
Maria João Santos	...	Pharmacist 2
Catherine Breillat	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

A man rescues a woman from a suicide attempt in a gay nightclub. Walking the streets together, she propositions him: She'll pay him to visit her at her isolated house for four consecutive nights. There he will silently watch her. He's reluctant, but agrees. As the four nights progress, they become more intimate with each other, and a mutual fascination/revulsion develops. By the end of the four-day "contract", these two total strangers will have had a profound impact on each other.

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Plot Keywords:

sex while asleep | copulation | female genitalia | female full frontal nudity | bare breasts | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Distributor site Film site

Country:

France Portugal

Language:

French

Release Date:

28 January 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

Anatomy of Hell

Filming Locations:

Ericeira, Portugal

Company Credits

Production Co:

Flach Film, CB Films, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min 87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For the close-ups of the female sexual parts, Catherine Breillat deliberately chose a body double for Amira Casar who was quite hairy. This was to counter expectations of female nudity in film and also to reinforce the male character's aversion to what he sees in a naked woman.

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Quotes

The woman: The woman is the man's disease.

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Connections

Featured in Indie Sex: Extremes (2007)

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Soundtracks

Timeless Bass
Written by D'Julz Single Studio
Produced by D'Julz Single Studio
(C) 20:20 vision records

User Reviews

Form 'Romance' to 'Anatomy of Hell', she is liberated!

One may not 'enjoy' the 'Anatomy of Hell' while seeing it in the cinema. It is a very tense experience and most scenes are surprisingly confronting. Go alone and see it anonymously as it may well be a part of human nature to deny such a deep cut- to-the-bone depict of the 'naked' human relations.

'Romance' is about how men treat women and 'Anatomy of Hell' is about how men 'view' and treat women. However, from 'Romance' to 'Anatomy of Hell', while men stay at same, SHE is liberated! She is no longer longing for the impossible of men recognition and driven to despair as in 'Romance', in 'Anatomy of Hell', she lies there and knows TOO WELL that all the sins in the world are caused by the view of her body (AS IF!).

From the high class sex scandals to the street gang rapes, the essence is the same. The very abstract notions of Catherine Breillat's view on misogyny only can be illustrated via the extreme excessive sex scenes. If the extreme sex scenes are taken out form both the 'Romance' and the 'Anatomy of Hell' (as they both have caused censorship controversial in Australia), would the same points be made? The answer is definitely NO.

'Romance' and 'Anatomy of Hell' are the only two films of Catherine Breillat's I have seen. I definitely will try to see the other films she ever made.