Movie Review: Four Lovers' Meandering Love Story Leaves ...

The allure of wealth is the luxury of leisure. Its danger is the almost necessary byproduct: boredom. We are operating well within the in the confined worlds of the bored well-off in Antony Cordier?s Four Lovers, a eroticized exploration of the consequences of idle hands ? or idle loins, as it were. As explained in the movie?s opening scene by Rachel (Marina Fo?s), a quarter of the quartet that makes up the m?nage de quatre in Cordier?s closely-cropped film, sometimes it?s just the excitement of something different that sets muddled actions in motion.

Rachel is a jewelry maker who meets Vincent (Nicolas Duvauchelle, who you may have caught in White Material), a pokey, close-talking customer who proves quick to flatter the attractive blond. A reason is conjured for Rachel and her husband Franck (Roschdy Zem, Outside the Law) to invite Vincent and his wife Teri (?lodie Bouchez) over for dinner. If we had to pair these four by types, Rachel and Teri possesses a coy cerebreality, while Franck and Teri have a tinge of earthiness, the male some sort of erotic massage guru (he?s even published books on the subject), the female an ex-gymnast (watch your imagination, now). Another excuse is conjured for Rachel and Vincent to leave the room, leaving Franck straddled behind Teri, counting her vertebrae. His touch proves potent as a snake bite; they kiss and red wine is spilt on the rug.

There is a good deal of erotic tension conjured up in these early scenes as we feel the groundswell of attraction fueling the characters. What is something of a letdown, then, is that what follows the fateful kiss is a premature release. There is an unspoken pact quickly formed between the four adults, each trading spouses to see what happens. At first, it all feels like a new job, Franck coming home from a sleepover with Teri, and Rachel asking him how it all went. Zestfully, we assume. Our assumptions are soon checked as Cordier allows us more bedroom time. A dichotomy soon emerges between the two new couples. Teri and Franck form a sensuous, soul-heavy bond, while Rachel and Vincent?s sex becomes more aggressive and detached. These scenes are to be taken as statements of character.

It comes as no real surprise that polygamy is difficult to manage. Rachel notices the depth of Franck?s affection for Teri, seeding her jealously, which leads to a sexual encounter between the women. Vincent feels out-matched by Franck, and becomes more removed and irritable. A temporary truce is called during a weekend at Rachel family?s country house. Bags of flour are split and tossed about in the barn, while the four pair off with their marital partners and have sex together in the room. It all proves a temporary balm, however. When Teri returns home, her oldest daughter (oh right! The kids) has found Rachel?s diary while the adults were away, revealing uncomfortable secretes.

If the scene with the flour sounds staged and hokey, then it is a pertinent commentary on Four Lovers to say that it is probably one of its best. Cordier excels in his erotic situations with an imaginative gusto that doesn?t extend to his characters, who feel dragged through the predictable arc of the story. What is most curious about Four Lovers is despite its floundering search for an emancipated sense of sexual liberty, sexuality is crudely comodified, as the four jockey for the physical and emotional spoils.

There is a murky dependence that develops between the four, and Cordier seems to lean on this interconnectedness towards the film?s end. It is a pretentious sort of pondering, the kind made possible by an emotional isolation, not of the characters, but of the filmmakers. Despite its risqu? moments, it is incredible how conventional Four Lovers is, which ended up reminding me of one of my favorite scenes in the movies. Towards the end of La Dolce Vita, when an exasperated Marcelo Mastroianni finds himself at a late night after party with frisky socialites, Marcelo eggs on the prudish members of the reluctant bourgeoisie, exposing them as frauds more excited by the thought of hedonism than any real transgressions. I longed for Marcelo to barge on this scene. Four Lovers longs for someone to raise the stakes, either psychologically or sexually. Where?s the Marquis De Sade ? or Pasolini or Bu?uel, for that matter ? when you need them?

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