Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo, the follow-up to director Abdellatif Kechiche’s 2017 film Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno was a real hit at Cannes if you liked gratuitous shots of women’s butts and a 20 minute scene of unsimulated cunnilingus. Unfortunately, a lot of critics were not a fan and walked out during the screening.
I just walked out of Mektoub My Love: Intermezzo. The most lacivicious leery trash I’ve seen. Eurgh! Talk about objectification and voyeurism.
— Patricia Hetherington (@phetheringtonnz) May 23, 2019
Kechiche said the film is intended “to celebrate life, love, desire, breath, music, the body.” He continued, “I’ve tried to show what really resonates within me to see bodies, tummies, the buttocks,” he continued. “What I have tried to do is to describe things through movement. I may appear facile. But they are quite magical. I wanted to film the magic of the body. It’s the metaphysical aspect of the body that I have portrayed.”
Coincidentally, these are the same talking points I use when I ask to film girls having sex. Though sometimes it’s hard to hear their answer when I’m standing on the other side of their bedroom window.
Critics say Kechiche is celebrating the male gaze and objectifying women’s bodies. Which an argument could be made if this breakdown of the film is true.
Summary of the 3.5 hour film: 30 mins of talking (maybe half of which are shots of female butts), 2 and a half hours of dancing (virtually all female butts), and a 20 minute scene of unsimulated cunnilingus that profoundly misunderstands female sexuality. Male nudity? None.
— Stephen David Miller (@sdavidmiller) May 24, 2019
Kechiche also did Blue Is the Warmest Color so this wasn’t exactly shocking. That film was heavily criticized for its unrealistic portrayal of lesbian sex. Its star, Léa Seydoux, also accused Kechiche of pressuring her and co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos to reshoot sex scenes.
You can probably expect more of the same from Kechiche in the future as it looks like he’s unlikely to change his style. He’s basically the arthouse version of Bang Bus.