The Blonde with Bare Breasts

The Blonde with Bare Breasts (French: La blonde aux seins nus) is a 2010 French film written and directed by Manuel Pradal.

The Blonde with Bare Breasts
Film poster
Directed byManuel Pradal
Produced byAlain Goldman
Written byManuel Pradal
StarringNicolas Duvauchelle
Vahina Giocante
Music byCarlo Crivelli
CinematographyHugues Espinasse
Edited byBeatrice Herminie
Production
company
Légende Films
Distributed bySeven Films
Release date
  • 16 January 2010 (2010-01-16)
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

Plot

Julien (Nicolas Duvauchelle), 25 years old, and Louis (Steve le Roi), 14 years old, are brothers. Their father had often beaten Julien, who defended Louis from also being beaten. He is terminally ill now. Although the brothers do not care much for it, they try to obtain ownership of his river transport ship.

A gang offers money for stealing the Édouard Manet painting La blonde aux seins nus (The Blonde with Bare Breasts) from the museum. The brothers agree to steal the painting. Louis steals the painting, while the young guard Rosalie (Vahina Giocante) is distracted. Rosalie comes after him, but Louis manages to lock her up. She is later freed to move around on the ship. Although she is sometimes treated rudely, she likes the adventure. The police suspect her of being involved in the theft. She helps by hiding the painting and herself, when the ship is searched.

Julien and Rosalie have sex. Louis is jealous and pretends to have hanged himself by hanging up a life-size doll dressed in his clothes. Julien plans to kill Rosalie, because she knows they stole the painting. Louis tries to protect her by advising her to escape. She returns the painting to her father, who arranges its restoration. In an act of revenge, the gang that wanted to buy it beats up Julien. Rosalie reunites with the brothers on the ship. Following the death of the brother's father, Louis gets the ship. He apparently is their father's only real son.

Cast
Édouard Manet – La blonde aux seins nus

Production

Filming began on 29 July 2008[1][2] for a 9 week period near Paris and the Seine,[3] and by spring 2009 was completed.[4]

Release

The film was first released in France on 16 January 2010, and was screened at film festivals including Le Festival du Film de Cabourg[5][6] and Cannes.[7] The film had its world premiere in June 2010 in the Netherlands under the French title.[8]

Reception

Of the film's world premiere in the Netherlands, André Waardenburg of NRC Handelsblad wrote "Nederland heeft de wereldpremière. Een dubieuze eer, want de film is niet erg sterk." (The Netherlands has the world premiere. A dubious honor, as the film is not very strong). He expanded on his review by writing "Net zoals het schilderij heeft de film weinig inhoud. Het probeert van de hoofdpersonages sympathieke schelmen te maken die lak hebben aan het establishment. Dat lukt maar half." (Like the painting, the film has little content. It attempts to make the main characters likeable rogues who have disdain for the establishment. That only half succeeds). However, he did approve of the locations. He wrote, "De locaties maken een beetje goed: het bezoek aan het schilderachtige plaatsje dat nog de sfeer van de Impressionisten ademt, levert een paar aardige scènes op." (The locations make up for that somewhat: the visit to the picturesque village that still breathes the atmosphere of the Impressionists delivers a few nice scenes).[8]

Jordan Mintzer of Variety wrote, "Despite what some may consider a promising title, there's unfortunately little to show for it in The Blonde With Bare Breasts" calling Manuel Pradal's film an "aimless intrigue". Referring to Pradal's earlier films, he wrote the film was "clearly a case of style over substance", and offered that the substance of the film was "so ephemeral and misconstrued" that it detracted from Yorgos Arvanitis' otherwise superb location cinematography.[9]

gollark: Ah, update your antimeme filters?
gollark: Wrong.
gollark: Do you fear apiogame?
gollark: Consider it.
gollark: So can I, actually.

References
  1. Vély, Yannick (30 August 2008). "La blonde aux seins nus: Vahina Giocante retrouve Manuel Pradal". Film de Culte (in French). filmdeculte.com. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  2. "News – Vendite – Francia". Cineuropa (in Italian). cineuropa.org. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  3. Rodier, Florent (28 July 2008). "Manuel Pradal dérobe La Blonde aux seins nus". Toutlecine (in French). toutlecine.com. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  4. "Vahina Giocante : "Je n'ai pas la sensation de trop me dévoiler"". Paris Match (in French). parismatch.com. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  5. "La blonde aux seins nus". Festival du Film de Cabourg. festival-cabourg.com. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  6. "24ème Festival du Film de Cabourg". UnHomme (in French). unhomme.fr. 9 June 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  7. "News – Festival – Francia". Cineurpoa (in Italian). cineuropa.org. 11 June 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  8. Waardenburg, André. "review: La blonde aux seins nus". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). nrc.nl. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  9. Mintzer, Jordan (6 July 2010). "The Blonde With Bare Breasts – La Blonde aux seins nus (France)". Variety. variety.com. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
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