CFF60 review - BIZARRE by Etienne Faure

A film built on two types of exhibitionsm - the one represented by colourful eccentricity and the more involuntary one that is concealed in youthful beauty. BIZARRE by ETIENNE FAURE screened at the 60th CORK FILM FESTIVAL.

The initial inspiration for BIZARRE came from a real club in New York City, from which the film takes its title. This club is attended by some colourful to say the least individual. Filmmaker ETIENNE FAURE shot entire sequences and footage from the night performances that take place on its stage, upon which people take turns to perform eccentric acts of erotic charge that go from the burlesque to the fetishistic, from the strange and funny to the downright cringeworthy. 

One thing is for sure, these acts stand for what is one of the thing that drives FAURE's feature - the theme of exhibitionism, and the contrast between the voluntary type of exhibitionism and the one that is involuntary. The first is presented by these colourful figures, while the latter is represented by the young eighteen year old French kid, named Maurice (played by newcomer PIERRE PRIEUR, discovered by producer of the film and photographer STEPHANE GIZARD) who is also the leading character of the film's narrative. 

When we first meet him, we know little about him, and little time is wasted on a backstory. All we know is that he is all alone in the big apple, and suddenly ends up being taken in by two girls who run the titular bar, and are living a kind of utopian lifestyle of wine in the morning and sporadic sexual promiscuity.

However, Maurice strangely doesn't engage in any particularly explicit sexual act throughout the film, and instead develops a sweet and strong bond with another young man, who works at the same bar, is charged with homo eroticism, but their romance is never consumated, and the sexual restraint is somewhat sexually charged in its own way. But that, of course, lies in the essential innocence that is embodied by Maurice, who seems somewhat modeled along the lines of TERENCE STAMP in PASOLINI's TEOREMA. The essential difference is that throughout the film, he also seems to be embarking on a journey in that will lead him to a sexual awakening while STAMP's character was already brimming with confidence and experienced youthful bravado. Maurice instead is rather shy, and mutters his lines under his breath. 

Even the journey of his sexual awakening is one that is never quite fulfilled, due to the nature of the film that retains a lot of mystery and grey areas in its story. These grey areas not only allow enhanced interaction with the viewer, but also allow each individual viewer to come up with his or her own reading of both the narrative and thematic conclusions of the film. 

BIZARRE is extremely sexy, but also surprisingly human and sweet. Its moments of tenderness sharply contrast its more extreme flirtations, but the feature overall manages to never give into excesses and remain compact through its whole duration, whilst never coming across as structured. It is like a specimen of punk filmmaking. While there is a whole narrative arch, it also has an air of impulsiveness that comes across from FAURE's editing of authentic footage with staged ones. This very fact is a representation of BIZARRE's most rewarding aspect. The authentic footage is that of the eccentric exhibitionists. The constructed and fictional footage revolves around an eighteen year old, whose youth attracts attention upon himself without really trying too hard.