Pity cute Tilo (the superb Boris Berthelot). His girlfriend, Karen, is sex-hungry and demanding. But Tilo prefers just being her friend. Karen pressures Tilo into having sex with her, but he's really not into it. Off the two head to a local bar. Tilo takes a p**s in the downstairs bathroom, but the next thing you know he's being felt up by the bar's transvestite bartender! Tilo can't get enough of the lusty older boy-gal, and visits her time and again while Karen remains blissfully unaware. Or is she? Next thing you know, Karen's sampling the TV's wares, too! A polyamorous relationship forms.
The experimentalist nature of the editing and the surrealist, almost symbolist nature of the cinematography, however, make for a confusing set-up and a fractured narrative. The film would have benefited from a more straight-forward narrative. There are long sequences in which Tilo and Karen prepare for bed and sex (there's a lot of skin here), but the shift in mood from the experimentalist introductory segments to the straight-forward bedroom scenes is jarring.
The film's fixation on Tilo induces the audience to believe that he might be a closeted homosexual. But he's bisexual. A more balanced look at the characters might have been helpful. True, a focus on Tilo helps set up the film's central gag (which comes about 60 seconds from the end). But I don't think the gag was essential to the film.
It's also not clear what the lengthy (and I mean, lengthy!) concluding shot means. We see Tilo running down a pier in his swimsuit for almost a full minute. What the hell is that supposed to mean?
The experimentalist nature of the editing and the surrealist, almost symbolist nature of the cinematography, however, make for a confusing set-up and a fractured narrative. The film would have benefited from a more straight-forward narrative. There are long sequences in which Tilo and Karen prepare for bed and sex (there's a lot of skin here), but the shift in mood from the experimentalist introductory segments to the straight-forward bedroom scenes is jarring.
The film's fixation on Tilo induces the audience to believe that he might be a closeted homosexual. But he's bisexual. A more balanced look at the characters might have been helpful. True, a focus on Tilo helps set up the film's central gag (which comes about 60 seconds from the end). But I don't think the gag was essential to the film.
It's also not clear what the lengthy (and I mean, lengthy!) concluding shot means. We see Tilo running down a pier in his swimsuit for almost a full minute. What the hell is that supposed to mean?
