Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo
Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo is a 2019 French drama film directed by Abdellatif Kechiche.[1] It premiered In Competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival where it was widely panned.[2] The film is a sequel to Kechiche's 2017 film Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno. Like its predecessor, the film is an adaptation of the French novel La Blessure, la vraie written by François Bégaudeau.[3][4] As its title suggests, the film is an interlude with a third and final film in the works.
Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo | |
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Film poster | |
Directed by | Abdellatif Kechiche |
Produced by | Abdellatif Kechiche Ardavan Safaee Jérôme Seydoux |
Screenplay by | Abdellatif Kechiche Ghalia Lacroix |
Based on | La Blessure, la vraie by François Bégaudeau |
Cinematography | Marco Graziaplena |
Edited by | Edgar Allender Nathanaëlle Gerbeaux Maria Giménez Cavallo |
Production company | Quat'sous films |
Distributed by | Pathé Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 212 minutes |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Plot
In 1994, Ophélie discovers she is pregnant with her lover's child even though she is engaged and due to marry her fiancé soon. With summer at a close she contemplates going to Paris to have an abortion. She and her friends decide to spend a night at a club in Sète where she has sex with her other friend.
Cast
- Shaïn Boumedine as Amin
- Ophélie Bau as Ophélie
- Salim Kechiouche as Tony
- Alexia Chardard as Charlotte
- Lou Luttiau as Céline
- Hafsia Herzi as Camélia
- Hugo-Vincent Couturier
Production
The decision to split this film apart from the film Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno caused Kechiche's producers to withdraw funds for post-production for both films in 2017.[5] Kechiche did eventually find the funds necessary to finish both films, in part by auctioning off the Palme d'or he won for Blue Is the Warmest Colour.
The film featured a 13-minute unsimulated sex scene where actress Ophélie Bau receives oral sex and is brought to orgasm.
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 10% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 2.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Joyless and distastefully photographed, Abdellatif Kechiche's second chapter in his romantic epic is too enamored with derrière to offer audiences a reason to care."[6] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 10 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[7]
References
- "The Screenings Guide 2019". 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- "Quentin Tarantino, Abdellatif Kechiche and Gaspar Noé join Cannes line-up". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- Ebiri, Bilge (24 May 2019). "Behind the 3.5-Hour Movie That Scandalized Cannes With Unsimulated Cunnilingus". Vulture.
- Kang, Biba (24 May 2019). "'Vapid' sex film Mektoub My Love: Intermezzo prompts walk-outs in Cannes". Retrieved 26 May 2019 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- Roxborough, Scott. "Director Abdellatif Kechiche: Why I'm Selling My Palme d'Or (Exclusive)". Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- "Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- "Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 16 January 2021.