Gazon maudit

Plot synopsis:
Laurent (Alain Chabat) and Loli (Victoria Abril) are a thirty-ish married couple living in southern France with their young children. He is an estate agent; she is a housewife. Laurent has extramarital affairs.
Loli is unaware that her husband is unfaithful. Then one day, a campervan breaks down in front of their house. The driver is Marijo (Josiane Balasko), a 40s-ish butch lesbian who works as a DJ. She asks to use their phone. Loli has a blocked sink, so in exchange for using the phone, Marijo gets Loli's drain back in working order. Loli and Marijo begin an affair. Laurent is upset, but then his friend Antoine (Ticky Holgado) accidentally reveals Laurent's philandering to Loli. This seems to justify her romance. Marijo moves into the house.
Antoine then suggests that Laurent let Loli have her way, cease all hostility, and wait for the affair to burn out. Laurent agrees, and the household becomes a seemingly idyllic ménage à trois. But his strategy has its effect, especially after another lesbian couple, old friends of Marijo, happen by. Laurent welcomes them, but Loli becomes annoyed and jealous.
Marijo decides that the situation is not really going to work. She knows that Laurent wants her to leave. While Loli is away on a trip, Marijo makes a deal with Laurent. She will break up with Loli and leave immediately, if Laurent will give her something she has wanted for years: a baby. Laurent has sex with Marijo to get her pregnant, and Marijo departs before Loli returns. Laurent tells Loli nothing, as agreed with Marijo.
Laurent and Loli settle back down to their old life, but their relationship has been deeply affected. Then Loli hears from a mutual acquaintance that Marijo is living in Paris and is several months pregnant. Loli is astonished and shocked. She insists that she and Laurent go to Paris and contact Marijo. They find her working as a DJ in a lesbian dance club. Their intrusion provokes a quarrel with the club owner, who fires Marijo. Loli and Laurent take her back to their home, where she has her baby.
The ménage à trois is re-established, with the two mothers caring for their children. As a final twist, a handsome man (Miguel Bosé) moves into the neighbourhood and he and Laurent gaze into each other's eyes...

Tags: queer

Review:
This is a delightful light comedy about a married couple whose life change upon the arrival of a butch lesbian to their lives.
Nevertheless, the movie is funny, it's done with great taste and sensibility, and even though the characters are not 100% belivable, they are not stereotypical.
Victoria Abril is delicious, playing the wife whose disenchantment of the married life leads her to explore a lesbian affair.
What I liked in particular about this comedy, is that sexual orientation never becomes the main issue in the movie, and it's really secondary to the human relationships that develop in this bizarre triangle.
Overall, French twist is a fun light comedy which probably wouldn't raise an eyebrow in Europe but will need a very open minded audience in the US.
Loli, played by Victoria Abril, has given up a promising career as a dancer to  become the wife of a womanising estate agent; and though she knows of one woman he has had an affair with and has forgiven him, she knows nothing about any of the others - not even her own baby-sitter!
So, when a butch lesbian, played by Josiane Balasko, appears on the scene, stopping at the house to ask for water for her van's radiator, she is a ripe fruit waiting to be picked.
The husband hates her so much and is so desperate to get rid of her that he is willing to do anything to get her to leave.But despite all the passion and jealousy this is a light comedy and not a heavy drama, and you have the feeling all along that everything will work out well in the end.
The moral of the story, affirmed at the end, is that the only things that matter are love, tenderness and affection and if we get those the source's sexual gender is immaterial; we are all bisexual.This is a bright, witty and observant comedy, well-acted, particularly by Victoria Abril,.
Playing Loli, a young housewife living in the south of France, Victoria Abril is as delightful as a spring breeze in Provence.
However, when the masculine Marijo, played poignantly by Josiane Balasko, enters their lives, the story takes many unexpected and entertaining turns which render a fairly common theme completely unpredictable.
OK, this picture is about sex, lesbians, homosexuality and triolism, we can see a few times Victoria Abril half or totally naked and Josiane Balasko smokes a lot of pot, but it is basically a comedy with no real provocation.
We know that the situations are implausible (a nice married woman falls in love at first glance with a butch-lesbian-truck-driver, who will have a baby with her husband) but the characters are funny enough to forget minor errors in the script and you will enjoy the way of cross that the unfaithful husband (Alain Chabat) will have to go through.3.
But if you find the plot outline attracting, if you ever wonder "What would I do if my wife leaves me for another woman ?", or if you want to see an uncommon film about relationships, you will not be disappointed !.
Instantly accessible to monolinguists - and yet its panache and pace could only be French (yeah, I know Abril is Spanish).Incidentally, I know we're not really supposed to respond to other comments from IMDb users, but it's interesting to note that the movie-loving community displays just as much intolerance and uptightness about sexuality as any other disparate group of people..
Abril's character charms both a lesbian and her inattentive husband who soon regrets his lack of regard for his live-wire wife.
Her sexuality is fluid---not really gay or straight but reponsive to genuine love and affection.If this film were about exclusively hetero characters it would probably not engender most of the outrage and invectives hurled at it.
At its essence, it's a light, well-acted film with decent writing and, frothy sexual politics typical of romantic comedies.
It certainly violates the rule book of romantic comedies US style: the homosexual characters have a more than ornamental role to play, the leads often behave in a less than likeable manner, and the morals our characters adhere to are thoroughly un-American.So, sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it?
I generally liked it, but there were moments where I would have wanted the film to make a turn towards either something a bit darker and nastier or something more easily enjoyable.
I also was not happy with the casting of Josiane Balasko as the lesbian who seduces Victoria Abril, mostly for the very simple reason that she lacked sexual appeal to make this believable, but also because her butchness was too visibly a mask..
I am happy finally I found this movie here today, but astonished to find it carries a totally different new name that I have never heard of.This film is humorous and it explored politely, nicely on bisexuality, with an open tone & manner.
I really admire her courage & vision, plus her story- telling techniques.Anyhow throughout watching, I have been expecting anxiously for more visually explicit shots for more entertaining excitement, probably I was too much spoiled by the Artistic films....(Wink!)   Anyhow the director, was considerate to make this film relatively conservative (probably a trade-off to let this film being able to suit more audience?), anyhow I still went away happy about this wonderful film.I would encourage anyone to watch this film, after watching it, you will go out of the theater & see a wider world, with a smile on your face.(From many films rating on this site, I was totally shocked to see how low this film was marked, it is so unbelievably low that I first started register here, to be able to balance this film as it deserves.
Even though I was expecting a funnier film, I was nevertheless pleasantly surprised by how these characters (especially the homosexuals) were written.
French Twist is a light comedy movie, which raise the issue of homosexuality to spectators.
Then Loli met Marijo who is a lesbian happen to visit to her house, and have a relationship.
It's prohibited for teenagers to watch the naked or sexual expression in Japan and U.S., but this movie does not hide such kind of scenes.
I guess she was frustrated by Laurent's attitude for women to woman because he had thought that women generally are obey men because man feed women, and should only house work and take care of children.
The film deserved some of the award such as best actor and best director since the main characters acting is vivid and entertaining.
I think the director have a unique way to show emotions between Marijo and Loli.
There is one scene when Marijo and Loli taking bath together, and this scene reveals the intense love of lesbian.
Also, Laurent's emotions and attitude towards Loli is quite complex after Marijo involve in their relationship.
Especially when Laurent agree to have sex with Marijo while Loli is away, I think that scene is a little exaggerated and awkward.
Since this film is comedy, this gender issue is also interesting.
I like the film because I personally love comedy movie.
This film support this kind of gender condition like lesbian.
I think the movie tries to tell its audience that if people love each other, it is okay to be whether heterosexual or homosexual.
Therefore, I like this film since not only scenes and shots are good but also the concepts are amazing.
As a comedy, the film stands out as it blends in the sexuality and gender issues in.
Personally, I think this movie is a successful one in terms of the story plot.
For European countries, it may be accepted to present controversial issues such as sexuality and lesbian relationships in a direct way compared to other countries such as the ones in Asia, where these are considered as taboos.Overall, I think this is an entertaining film and it is worth watching.
This movie is recommended to anyone who wants to know more about gender and sexuality issues, or anyone above illegal age..
French twist is a lighthearted comedy which centers around three characters in a love triangle not often seen in mainstream film.
The topic of the film may seem rather heavy but the director and actors do an excellent job of keeping the movie light and comedic.
Overall I think that the movie is definitely worth watching.
French Twist, also known as "Gazon Maudit" in France, is a French Sexual-Comedy film which playfully explores some aspects of homosexuality, gender roles, infidelity, and homophobia.
The subjects explored in the movie may sound heavy on paper, but in the actual context of the film were used more as a means to carry the comedy itself.
That is to say, the themes in the film, while not commonly explored, were not overly-subversive in a sense which would the film a "heavy" feeling.The comedic situations take place between the three main characters; Laurent, his wife Loli, and a lesbian DJ/drifter Marijo.
The film establishes quite early that since Laurent is an infidel and emotionally neglectful to his wife Loli, Loli engaging in homosexually promiscuous behavior with Marijo is not necessarily a betrayal to their marriage.
The psychology of this sort of 'revenge' against the neglectful husband is what prevents the audience from seeing Loli as a wretched being.Most of the comedy is based around awkward situations created by Marijo's attraction to Loli.
Homophobia is also explored in the sense that it seems as if his wife's homosexual explorations must be accepted by Laurent for him to progress as a character, and solve the issue between him and Loli.
"French Twist" is a film that is full of surprises from the very beginning to the very end.
A comedy made in France in 1995 gives us a plot that asks any man what he would do if his wife fell in love with a lesbian.
The characters, and their plights, are funny because the actors in this film give surprisingly good performances.
Victoria Abril, who plays Loli the housewife, does a great job in giving such life to her character while bringing enough emotion to make such a ridiculous affair believable.
He's a scum, but at some point in the movie, Alain is able to turn his character around and make the audience feel his plight.Kudos should also be given to both the director and writer.
Really, the pacing is what makes this movie such a joy to watch.Overall, "French Twist" is a very solid movie, and a really good comedy.
Mainstream comedies that deal with Homosexuality and bisexuality normally do so in one or two ways; they make fun of the alternate lifestyles or they use two women who are both very beautiful and seemingly straight and merely have them make out to excite the male portion of the audience that the movie is generally geared towards.
This is primarily because the Hollywood movie would be shot in a more exploitive way than this film.The plot is fairly predictable, however there are several twists that make this movie much more interesting then I would have originally thought.
"French Twist" is a mildly humorous situational comedy about an attractive women, wife, and mother who is married to a womanizer who becomes outraged when his wife falls in with a dyke.
The story is about a housewife named Loli (Victoria Abril) who calls a plumber for her kitchen drain and she meets Marijo (Josiane Balasko) who is a lesbian and instantly attracted to Loli.
Loli has a husband named Laurent (Alain Chabat) who is constantly cheating on her.
Its just a bunch scenes that are written into the film to make the characters react in a strange manner.
One thing that I did enjoy in this film is the performance of Ticky Holgado who plays Antoine.
It's insulting to think that a married woman with children would so readily entertain a lesbian love affair with a completely unattractive woman who stops by after her car breaks down.
If you're a guy you might think two chicks "doing it" is cool, but after watching this movie you get a better taste of what a homosexual lifestyle is like and frankly, it's not a turn-on.It was definitely provocative, but I couldn't enjoy it..
This particular film is about a very butch lesbian who aims to destroy Abril's shaky marriage.
The lesbian character is the most ugly, annoying, without-merit individual ever to be put on screen and it is unrealistic to think that Victoria Abril's character would want to be near her let alone make love to her.
He wife is one hot looking woman that I wouldn't cheated on myself but what's with the lesbian stuff in all these kind of movies huh?
I only like the ending just a little bit but, they should made it more good with the lesbian so called DJ fall in love with the husband and he fall in love with her but they didn't do the threesome way they did it their own stupid way..
I do think that the lesbian was portrayed as a human being, but the husband was a jerk and the wife- well I don't know too many women that are ac/dc....
French Twist is a sexual, yet also is a light romantic comedy film which shows the different aspects of gender roles and homosexuality which is not usually seen in a mainstream film.
For people who has watch this kind of film for the first time, this could be really shocking yet interesting and humorous plot of story.This film, shows how it is possible for a person to just change their sexuality in just a matter of flirting with the same sex, or it could also be possible that their real sexuality was hidden inside them for a long time and was just discovered when the right situation happens that pushes their real sexuality to come out.
On how Laurent criticizes Marijo because of her sexuality was not really super annoying, instead, all their clash scenes were very funny.
The director successfully turned a supposedly intense scenario of a homosexual love triangle into a very humorous and light scene.This film really did a great job on making the audience nervous and excited for what is going to happen with the married couple when a third party started to show up in the picture.
Over all I think that French Twist is a very unique film and will let the audience know that in love , gender doesn't matter..
French Twist explores the sexual fluidity that people possess with an upbeat and fun nature.
By categorizing the flow and charm of the film as a romantic/comedy, it draws and entertains the audience to a usually controversial and taboo topic, especially for American viewers.
Certain stereotypes for both genders are explored through the characters mainly of Loli and Laurent.
Although stereotypes of Loli's role as a housewife seem to be something pushed to her rather than she deliberately or naturally takes advantage of like Laurent does.
Although the character of Marijo is physically stereotyped as a butch lesbian, her relationship with Loli show a clear contrast between her relationship with her husband.
Laurent (Alain Chabat) is an estate agent, and a father, married to a Spanish housewife named Loli (Victoria Abril).
Indeed, to call Laurent a womanizer is the understatement of the year, with his friend Antoine (Ticky Holgado), they use their professional network as a bait for women, the side effect is that he doesn't have time for his wife and plays the workaholic card so often that it gives her all the reasons to feel neglected.
This feeling is accentuated by the fact that he's too exhausted to snuggle.Then comes Marijo, a truck driver, a butch, played by director Josiane Balasko, she bumps into Loli's house asking for water.
I couldn't believe he would flirt with this girl, or wouldn't recognize his daughter, it was written as if the writer had a personal record to settle with guys.Yet this is nothing compared to the ending, It was totally out-of-character to have Laurent immediately fall in love with a man.
The issue was not really about the fact that Marijo was a lesbian, but the fact that Loli couldn't decide who she should be with.
Fun movie to watch with a lot of hilarious scenes, but I don't know if I have learned something from it..
This movie might give a chance to reconstruct your ideas of gender roles and sexualities in a very French and really twisted way.
Marijo, played by Josiane Balasko, appears as a woman with non-standard behavior, and without any question about sexuality of herself.
In the way she acts, dress, and talk, you feel she has more attractive factors as a male than Laurant, played by Alain Chabat, does, with a common gender stereotype "females are attracted by reliable males caring only about them." The movie also succeeded showing a contrast between characters by showing Laurant, a straight-male, acts 'sissy' becoming emaciated while Marijo, a lesbian, always acts 'manly' whatever happens.
This makes you laugh out so loud with a great fun at scenes that Laurant treats Marijo's lesbian friends (includes her ex.) nicely as guests.
All the events in relationships in characters are caused by fast, simple, unstable, and 'easy-going' attitudes about physical and mental relationships of Loli, played by Victoria Abril; therefore there is no end to the trouble no matter the sexuality of her partners..
This movie is filled with many surprises and twists that keep the audience excited till the very end.
What I found really surprising and interesting about the plot was how sexuality was portrayed through Loli's attraction to Marijo rather than her husband.
Loli has thought she was straight her whole life which we can tell when she encounters Marijo for the first time.
However I personally believe this movie worked because it was done in Europe, and that America would not be open to these ideas.