LES SALOPES OR THE NATURALLY WANTON PLEASURE OF SKIN CWC D: Renée Beaulieu. Canada. 97 min. Sep 7, 7 pm, Scotiabank 4 Sep 9, noon, AGO. See listing. Rating: NNN
Marie-Claire (Brigitte Poupart) is a professor of dermatology, embarking on a study of how skin cells are affected by desire. Promising student Sofia (Charlotte Aubin) hopes to find tangible proof of love on the cellular level. The academic conceit is cloying.
Luckily, Beaulieu understands that a woman’s desire for sex doesn’t have to be validated by the scientific method. Instead, she emphasizes carnality with multiple, erotic scenes that centre Marie-Claire’s pleasure.
Poupart plays the mid-40s, married, mother of two as an uncompromising figure, which makes for a fascinating character study as the primacy she places on herself is at times radical and at other times decidedly not. (Her reaction to an unexpected #MeToo subplot is particularly odious.)
