France Private - The Sexual Obsessions of an Actress - Blu-ray

Content: The young actress Anaïs (Aurélie Houguenade) is consumed by self-doubt. She is desperate to land the lead role in British playwright Sarah Kane's play Psychosis 4.48, but doubts she is good enough for it. Encouraged by the support of her friend Pierre (Manuel Lambinet), she presses the director (Jean-Marie Galey) until he gives her the lead role, although it was actually already promised to someone else. Anaïs now wants to give herself completely to this challenge she has won. She wants to merge with her role, which causes her to fall deeper and deeper into a self-destructive frenzy that breaks up her relationship with Pierre. But this is a price the young actress is only too willing to pay, as working on the play opens up entirely new perspectives for her own life - whether they are good for her or not is irrelevant...

The Sexual Obsessions of an Actress is the fourth film released in the France Private series. As with The Sexual Adventures of a Married Man, it was again directed by Jacky Katu. His improvisational storytelling style and rather revealing approach to sexuality come through again here. What makes this drama a little more interesting, however, is its direct reference to the life and work of controversial playwright Sarah Kane, who took her own life in London in 1999. The fact that her life, dominated by depression and artistic expression, is also reflected in the young French actress's obsessions should make the film quite intriguing, especially for those viewers familiar with Kane's work, but especially with Psychosis 4.48.

But otherwise, it is also true of The Sexual Obsessions of an Actress that the improvisational style of acting and staging can seem a bit unwieldy at times. In addition, the main character, who acts very hysterically from the beginning, is extremely exhausting in the long run and not exactly a real sympathetic figure. This actually only applies to her boyfriend Pierre, who, however, already leaves the story after the first act. Moreover, the film seems to be a bit too forced in its attempt to be realistic to be convincing. This is true for the dramaturgical aspects as well as for the numerous sex scenes. These are staged in a pleasantly relaxed way and are thus a pleasant contrast to the usual sterile high-gloss eroticism. Nevertheless, the whole production seems too theatrical, too overdrawn to be able to really convey its interesting topic in a rousing way. Therefore, only for viewers who can engage with the idiosyncratic staging and the complicated main character, or for all who liked The Sexual Adventures of a Married Man, worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: That the drama is a very small and inexpensive production, is also reflected in the audiovisual realization. At many moments, the picture looks choppy, slightly washed out or a bit blurry, although in most moments these are deliberately used stylistic devices. Still, it's rather hard to get comfortable with it as a viewer. The audio, which comes in a fairly unspectacular DTS-HD MA mix, lets the dialogue ring out very powerfully, but otherwise has little in the way of effects to bring a little movement to the surround channels. For a low-budget arthouse film, however, this is perfectly fine. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the disc holds only the trailer and more programming tips from the provider.

Financial Summary: Actress's Sexual Obsessions is, at its core, a good and interesting study of what happens when the lines between a role and one's personality become increasingly blurred. But the very improvisational acting and the main character, who is uncomfortably hysterical from the start, make this drama a rather exhausting affair. But if you like Jacky Katu's idiosyncratic style or his previous film The Sexual Adventures of a Married Man, you can safely give this one a look as well.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp