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Anatomy of Hell

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox film

| name = Anatomy of Hell

| image = Anatomy of Hell.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| native_name =

| director = Catherine Breillat

| screenplay = Catherine Breillat

| based_on =

| producer = Jean-Franois Lepetit

| starring =

| cinematography =

| editing = Pascale Chavance

| production_companies =

| distributor = Rzo Films

| released =

| runtime = 77 minutes

| country =

| language = French

| budget =

| gross = $345,365

}}

'Anatomy of Hell' is a 2004 erotic drama film written and directed by Catherine Breillat, based on her 2001 novel 'Pornocratie'. According to Breillat, 'Anatomy of Hell' is a "sequel" to 'Romance'.

Plot



Teetering on the edge of overwhelming ennui, a lonely and dejected woman pays a gay man to join her for a daring, four-day exploration of sexuality in which both reject all convention and smash all boundaries while locked away from society in an isolated estate. Only when the man and woman confront the most unspeakable aspects of their sexuality will they have a pure understanding of how the sexes view one another.

Cast



* Amira Casar as the woman

* Rocco Siffredi as the man

* Catherine Breillat as the narrator

* Alexandre Belin as blow-job lover 1

* Manuel Taglang as blow-job lover 2

* Jacques Monge as man in bar

* Claudio Carvalho as boy with the bird

* Carolina Lopes as little girl

* Diego Rodrigues (billed as 'Diogo Rodriques') as little boy playing doctor

* Joo Marques as boy playing doctor

* Bruno Fernandes as little boy playing doctor

* Maria Edite Moreira as pharmacist 1

* Maria Joo Santos as pharmacist 2

Production



The film was adapted by writer/director Breillat from her novel 'Pornocracy'. The sexually explicit film stars Amira Casar as "the woman" and porn star Rocco Siffredi as "the man". Leonard Maltin summarizes: "After attempting suicide in the bathroom of a gay disco, a woman hires the man who rescues her to spend four nights in her company, challenging him to 'watch me where I'm unwatchable'."

Catherine Breillat allowed her female star Amira Casar to use a body double in the explicit sex scenes. Rocco Siffredi's performance, however, is all his own work.

Rocco Siffredi recalled that when Catherine Breillat was describing one scene to him, she took his penis in her hand and explained to Amira how she should play the scene.

Reception



The film polarized critics. Leonard Maltin gave the film zero stars and said the film was "homophobic" and "unintentionally funny".Maltin, Leonard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6EgPDierNGUC Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide], p. 41 Roger Ebert stated: "I remember when hard-core first became commonplace, and there were discussions about what it would be like if a serious director ever made a porn movie. The answer, judging by 'Anatomy of Hell', is that the audience would decide they did not require such a serious director after all."

BBC film critic Jamie Russell gave the film four stars out of five:

: "The plot is hardcore thin: a woman (Amira Casar) cruises a gay club and pays broody stud (porn star Rocco Siffredi) to spend four nights with her. A challengingly explicit delve into the female body (often quite literally), it's a unique cinematic example of feminist existential porn.... Yet perversely, it's also one of the most groundbreaking films in recent memory in terms of both the explicitness of its sexuality and its commitment to such an austere intellectual discourse. No wonder Rocco looks so shell-shocked: this is sex not as comedy, but as the deepest, darkest male nightmare."Russell, Jamie. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/11/22/anatomy_of_hell_2004_review.shtml BBC Movies review of 'Anatomy of Hell'], 'BBC', 22 November 2004

The film went on to win Best Feature Film at the Philadelphia Film Festival.[https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000533/2004 Philadelphia Film Festival, Date: April 8 - April 21 2004]

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 26% rating based on 35 critics with an average rating of 3.56/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Ponderous, pretentious, and considering the subject matter dull." On Metacritic, the film has a 29 out of 100 rating based on 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

References




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