I have tried to avoid the reviews of this film, and the few that I have read disclose a lot of the plot. It has taken me a while to watch it and during the first killing I thought of course of 'Cruising'. Whatever the merits or the controversy of that film, this is not at all like it. It borders on the Absurdist with twists and turns that would have made even Ionesco's head spin. It is a wonderful portrait of 1979 male gay porn film-making and the focus of that (absurd in itself) period is wonderfully portrayed. Even the camera spins in circles that made me giddy with pleasure and the special effects for me succeeded completely. Even seeing people with claws for hands looked normal in the context of a certain forest cemetery, and the murder scenes were so way-over-the-top that horror was the last thing about them. Vanessa Paradis was perfect and I was just a little disappointed that the superb Felix Maritaud was not given a bigger role. For those who hate images of homosexuality in all its delirious forms, and for those who are so PC that the thought of two lesbians making male gay porn is going too far, avoid this concoction of crazed delights. I must mention that a long sequence set in 'Le Far West' cinema, an iconic place of the period, is one of the best sequences I have seen. There is a short novel called 'Le Far West' by John Roman Baker which is set entirely in that cinema. For humour, decadence and a sense of fun towards horror and what the stupid call 'perverse' look no further. Yet another Queer and superbly watchable French film.
Review of Knife + Heart
