Choses secrètes (2002)
Directed by Jean-Claude Brisseau

Film Review

Director Jean-Claude Brisseau presents an uncompromisingly modern and deeply cynical view of love and romance in this bizarre erotic drama which will doubtless ruffle a few feathers.   Choses secrètes is daring both in its choice of subject - the stark portrayal of attractive young women heartlessly using their sexuality to destroy male egos - and in its explicit content (which includes an orgy scene which appears to have been inspired by a Hieronymous Bosch painting).  Where the film falls down is in its lack of realism and its weak characterisation, which rob the story of any real credibility and renders much of the film almost unbearably ridiculous.  It's virtually impossible to watch the cliché-riddled last ten minutes of the film without laughing - it looks stylish and is well acted, but it just provokes the wrong kind of reaction.

The two female leads, Sabrina Seyvecou and Coralie Revel, are impressive and give a near-convincing portrayal of the darker side of female sexuality that is as disturbing as it is provocative. With its numerous explicit sex scenes, pretentious dialogue and some way over-the-top artistic excesses, Choses secrètes risks being categorised as just another tatty piece of softcore porn of the Emmanuelle variety, which is unfair because there is more to it than that.  This is a film which paints some unpalatable truths about the extent to which our society is devaluing sex, and how male-female relationships are becoming dangerous emotional war games, with women finally learning to get the upper hand. Brisseau followed this with the equally provocative Les Anges exterminateurs (2006) and À l'aventure (2009).

Film Synopsis

Sandrine and Nathalie decide to embark on a campaign of revenge against the male sex after losing their jobs in a pornographic nightclub.  Flaunting their sexuality for all it is worth, the two women have no difficulty finding office jobs in a large, high prestige company, and soon they have access to all the information they need to begin their private war.  The company's personnel database proves to be a goldmine and within no time the two merciless females are working their way up the company ladder, with easily seduced men serving as mere rungs beneath their unforgiving feet.  The duo's ultimate target is Christophe, the son of the company's managing director.  He has a reputation for being a sadistic womaniser who drives women to kill themselves.  Christophe's unsavoury past history does not deter Sandrine, who believes he will be an easy conquest.  In fact, she is about to embark on the most dangerous game of her life.  Christophe is not only an outrageous libertine, he is a man who delights in making women suffer...