I can't say I've ever been a huge fan of French comedy, and I also can't really recall the last time I saw a truly raucous, balls-out French comedy, and especially not one as blackly comic and dirty as Menage. Or at least, the first half of it.
The film starts off rather promisingly, as a bitter homeless couple, consisting of Antoine and Monique (Michel Blanc and Miou-Miou, respectively), fighting over how much they hate each other, encounter a mysterious, tough drifter named Bob, played by Gerard Depardieu. Bob makes his living by robbing rich people's houses in the most laid-back, hassle-free way you've ever seen. He basically just strolls in, makes himself at home and takes his sweet time enjoying the luxuries of other people's riches. Antoine and Monique quickly adapt to Bob's lifestyle -- especially the latter. The three become increasingly audacious and promiscuous, while simultaneously getting further and further involved in a strange love triangle. Bob pursues Antoine, Antoine pursues Marie, Marie pursues Bob...you get the idea.
The film is rife with dirty, out-of-the-blue one-liners, such as "A lock should be wet, like every orifice," and "Don't you get the feeling he wants to butt-fuck me?" It veers from moments of sincerity and emotion to absurd situations, such as the family whose house they had just robbed sit down to have dinner with our criminal protagonists. But the thing is, the film ultimately seems to hinge on those throwaway lines; it's almost as though the scenes are built around them, and once the novelty starts wearing thin, the film becomes plodding and tedious. The first half is infinitely more entertaining than the second.
The film at times seems...well, kind of homophobic. And a bit misogynistic. It addresses sexual orientation directly, but it seems to do so haphazardly, with complete disregard for what implications a viewer might deduce from such treatment of the subject. I mean, there's the fact that Bob pretty much bullies Antoine into being gay, and the fact that Bob continually refers to the fact that jail made him the way he is. Granted, the film was made over twenty years ago, and even though 1986 sounds like it wasn't a long time ago, it kind of was. If we disregard such politically incorrect details, we can enjoy the film for what it is, or at least, what it's supposed to be: a ridiculously dirty, lighthearted comedy. But these seeming minutiae become impossible to ignore when, near the end of the film, Bob coaxes Antoine into becoming a full-fledged drag queen, which seems to send the message that all gay people are or will eventually become flamboyant, ignorant stereotypes. It's a strange development, ostensibly pulled out of the air in order to serve as the vehicle for another wacky misadventure taken on by the gang. Not to mention that when Antoine turns the tables on Bob -- at gunpoint, mind you -- and asks him to put on a wig, the latter refuses, stating that he'll look like an idiot if he does so. By the end, both Antoine and Bob are transsexuals, and we are left with the impression that such is the natural progression for all gay people everywhere.
The main problem with the film is that the audience is never really given the chance to empathize with the main characters. They're lewd, crude, kind of crazy and oftentimes funny; but what does it all matter if we don't ever really care about what happens to them? Monique is a bitch, Antoine is cowardly and wishy-washy, Bob is a whorish caricature of a gay person, and all three of them very scarcely show even the slightest semblance of humanity or compassion. Not much to admire in any of that.
DVD Bonus Features
The special features on this DVD release leave much to be desired, as they consist solely of previews of other movies that are vaguely related to this one, and a trailer for Menage itself. It's too bad.
"Menage (Evening Dress)" is on sale July 14, 2009 and is rated NR. Comedy, Crime. Written and directed by Bertrand Blier. Starring Gerard Depardieu, Miou Miou, Michel Blanc.
