The Last Mistress
| The Last Mistress | |
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 theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Catherine Breillat |
| Produced by | Jean-Francois Lepetit |
| Written by | Catherine Breillat |
| Starring | Asia Argento Fu'ad Aït Aattou Roxane Mesquida |
| Cinematography | Yorgos Arvanitis |
| Editing by | Pascale Chavance |
| Distributed by | Studio Canal |
| Release date(s) | 2007 |
| Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | France Italy |
| Language | French |
| Budget | $6,500,000 |
| Box office | $1,831,577 (U.S.)[1] |
The Last Mistress (French: Une vieille maîtresse, literally "An old mistress") is a 2007 French-Italian film based on a controversial novel by French writer Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly. It stars Asia Argento and Fu'ad Aït Aattou as the two main characters. The movie was directed by French filmmaker Catherine Breillat. The film was entered into the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.[2]
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[edit] Plot
Ryno de Marigny (Fu'ad Aït Aattou), before getting married to the young and innocent Hermangarde (Roxanne Mesquida), makes a last visit to La Vellini (Asia Argento), his Spanish mistress, to bid goodbye in an act of lovemaking. His liaison with La Vellini is the subject of the Parisian gossip, and before Hermangarde's grandmother gives her blessing, she wants to hear from Ryno everything about this relationship. Ryno reveals a tempestuous story but indicates that his ten year romance is over; he now is in love with Hermangarde. After the marriage, the newlyweds move away to a castle at the seashore. They are happy and soon Hermangarde conceives. But the "last/old mistress" reappears, and while Ryno tries to keep her out of his life, she is not to be rejected, and Hermangarde finds out about it.
[edit] Cast
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[edit] Critical reception
The film appeared on some critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Stephen Holden of The New York Times named it the 5th best film of 2008,[3] and Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter named it the 9th best film of 2008.[3]
[edit] Production
When director Catherine Breillat was asked by Screen Comment's Ali Naderzad about the process behind creating a wardrobe for the film, she responded: "For the film's first scene I inspired myself with Goya, evidently, but also by a pencil drawing of the Duchess D'Albe shaking her hair, totally torrid and modern. So that was an inspiration, and also Marlene Dietrich, of course. The artist has the right to put his imprint, which is to create fantasy. To be merely a historian isn't enough.[4]
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ The Last Mistress at Box Office Mojo
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Last Mistress". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4435144/year/2007.html. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ^ a b "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2008/toptens.shtml. Retrieved January 11, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Naderzad, Ali, "The Catherine Breillat Interview", Screen Comment (Oct. 22, 2007)
- Bibliography
Blateau, Anne-Elisabeth. "Une vieille maîtresse sans Breillat" (A Last Mistress without Breillat), in Carré d'Art : Barbey d'Aurevilly, Byron, Dalí, Hallier, by Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Anagramme éd., Paris, 2008, pp. 143-149.
[edit] External links
- The Last Mistress at the Internet Movie Database
- The Last Mistress at AllRovi
- The Last Mistress at Box Office Mojo
- Une vieille maîtresse at Films de France
- Cannes Festival press kit
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