Product Description

Based on a best selling novel of the same name, Confusion of Genders is an uninhibited romantic satire that tells the story of Alain (Pascal Greggory), who is having an office romance with a female colleague Laurence (Nathalie Richard). Unfortunately her younger brother Christophe (Cyrille Thouvenin) likes him as well. Alain however, doesn't know what he wants. Men, women, commitment and freedom are luring him in every direction but he is incapable of choosing. Or willing. When Alain encounters sexy, dangerous Marc (Vincent Martinez), the only way to get close to him is to become the messenger of Marc's passion (the sexy Babette, played by Julie Gayet), an entrancing woman whose charms Alain can not resist. Unfortunately, by this time, Christophe has moved into Alain's flat and Laurence is expecting his child and his hand in marriage. Will Alain find a compromise that will be acceptable to all?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45228 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-12-09
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

Customer Reviews

Leave It To The French To Serve Up Angst
In "Confusion of Genders," French director Ilan Duran Cohen's central character Alain (Pascal Greggory) has so many sexual alliances that you literally have to draw a diagram with him in the center and arrrows pointing to his many lovers to keep the story straight. (No pun intended.) He and his legal colleague Laurence (Nathalie Richard) manage to make a baby although they each acknowledge that they are not in love with each other. ("Love is a prison." On the other hand, someone in the film opines that "a marriage of convenience is so sad.") Then Alain is pursued-- and caught-- by the young frisky Christophe (Cyrille Thouvenin) and they eventually move in together while the pregnant Laurence is pretty much left on her own. (One of the most erotic scenes in the film has Christophe and Alain brushing their teeth while wearing only their underwear.) Alain also gets a crush on a client of his, Marc, (Vincent Martinez) who is in prison for murder and wants him to be the go-between to take messages to his girlfriend Babette (Julie Gayet), a quite beautiful hairdresser. As you would suspect by now, Alain is attracted to her as well.

To call Alain indecisive is an understatement. While his ego must be bursting with all these different people of both sexes vying for his affection, I had trouble grasping his charisma. But then I'm not French. The movie, on the other hand, is beautifully filmed. Certainly no one does well-lit angst better than the French.

It seemed longer than it was.
I enjoyed it. I thought it was well acted and directed. It just seemed long. There was a lot going on at one point. There were several plots intertwined with the main story, very interesting possibilities.

It is worth a rental.

???A Question Mark of a Man????
Poor Alain......what a strange man. He is damaged goods, and perhaps that's why we are shown several scenes of his mother:: The Queen of Damaged Goods. Alain can sometimes show passion with someone, but he can't be constant with someone.....he can't be monogamous. What a question mark of a human being!

But it is not only Alain who needs our pity:: Poor Christophe!! Alain is the opposite of what this young man needs (recall, if you will, what C's own father says that he needs). Cyrille Thouvenin does a very good job with the Christophe role, and his performance alone makes this review's 4th Star. (Thouvenin is able to do oh-so-much more in that greater French production: "JUST A QUESTION OF LOVE" --Read about IT, get IT; you won't be sorry)

PS: Alain's life is not just one of Confusion; it is one of utter chaos.