16/05/2008

A bear, nudists priests, hallucinogenic mushrooms, a Tibetan, a sex inversion, a chocolate massage and bungee jumping: Le Voyage aux Pyrénées [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by brothers Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu has opened the 40th Directors' Fortnight to an world of absurd comedy – something quite rare at the Cannes Film Festival.

This bizarre adventure of a film perfectly suits lead actors Sabine Azema and Jean-Pierre Darroussin, who throw themselves into their roles amid the magnificent French-Spanish mountains.

Co-written by the brothers, the script follows a couple, famous actors Aurore Lalu and Alexandre Dard (Azema and Darroussin), on holiday in a small village. Hoping to cure Aurore’s nymphomania through isolation, they presence is soon discovered, however, by the (pathetic) local press.

After several excursions on donkey and foot, and despite Alexandre's efforts to control his wife, the holidays soon turn into absolute mayhem. Because actresses "are not like other women", not unlike the bear (erotic and phantasmagorical, inspired by Walerian Borowczyk's The Beast) of a local saying: "You know he’s there, but not exactly where”.

Such a statement also applies to the Larrieu brothers' film, which does not shy away from eccentricity or absurd dialogue. It shows how ridiculous village people are in their relationship with nature, as well as famous actors, torn as they are between exhibitionism and the need to solve their own problems in private, in a region where only three things are feared: "God, thunderstorms and avalanches."

Produced by Soudaine Compagnie with the support of Canal + and TPS Star, Le voyage aux Pyrénées will be distributed locally by Diaphana Distribution while Celluloid Dreams handles international sales.

(Translated from French)