"French Twist" A Film Review by Linda Lopez McAlister on "The Women's Show" WMNF-FM 88.5, Tampa, FL September 7, 1996 Tampa's 7th Annual Pride Film Festival is coming up in less than a month (it's October 3 - 13) and since I'll be away the Saturday before it starts and the second Saturday of the Festival, I thought I'd better get started now on my reviews of the lesbian- themed films to be screened during the Festival. This year for a change (and thanks to Dorothy Abbot), the Festival folks have provided very high quality preview copies that make an advance look possible. Today I want to tell you about, perhaps, the most commercial of the lesbian films, "French Twist" which is a bona fide French import that had a modest commercial run the the U.S. earlier this year. (In the Tampa Bay area I think it only played at the Beach Theater, and not for very long). It's a comedy that was written and directed by Josiane Balasko, a veteran French comic actor and filmmaker. It stars Spanish actor Victoria Abril as a suburban Parisian housewife, Loli, married to a philandering up-scale real estate salesman, Laurent (Alain Chabat), whose lives are forever changed when one Marijo, an indisputably butch dyke (played by Josiane Balasko herself), knocks on Loli's door one fine day because her beat-up old VW van has broken down in front of the house and stays on to provide help with the stopped up plumbing and some welcome company for a lonely and neglected housewife. Not surprisingly, when Laurent comes home and finds an "imitation man" in his house, he throws a fit, but Marijo stays for dinner, and, when Laurent's previously planned rendevous with a "client" takes him "back to the office" for the evening, Marijo and Loli have the entire evening to get acquainted. Imagine the homophobic Laurent's rage when he finds himself staring a Marijo over breakfast the next morning. Laurent's best friend and business partner, Antoine, thinks this is all very funny and arranges for the four of them to go out to dinner the next night so he can see Marijo. Wet blanket Laurent again goes ballistic when Marijo dances a tango with Loli, whose enjoyment is obvious. Loli ends up throwing Laurent out of the house and Marijo is there to fill the void. After a lot of misogynistic ranting by Laurent, he gets some good advice from an old prostitute and seeks a reconcilliation, leading to an arrangement in which all three of them live together, with Loli, who loves them both, inviting Laurent into her bed three nights a week and Marijo three nights. Sunday is a day of rest. Can this siutation last? I won't tell you, except to say that there are a number of French twists to the plot before we get to the end and you'll just have to see it yourself to enjoy all the surprises. Some interesting things about this film are that it's the first time I can recall when a film made for a mainstream audience had an overt butch lesbian as the hero and Marijo's character is depicted in a very appealing manner in contrast to the homophobic Laurent who has little to recommend him until he is redeemed near the end. Also Balasko has taken great pains to shoot the love scenes between the women in such a way that they would not invite the titillation of male viewers. She was trying to achieve a representation of female sexuality "where men have no place, not even as voyeurs." On the other hand, both men and women, gay and straight, should react favorably to this endearingly open and warm-hearted comedy. It was a huge hit in both France and Canada; it should be an audience favorite at the Pride Film Festival, too. Watch for it. For the WMNF Women's Show, this is Linda Lopez McAlister on Women and Film. Copyright 1996. All rights reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce this review without permission of the author: mcaliste@chuma.cas.usf.edu.