{"id":5862,"date":"2008-08-15T08:58:04","date_gmt":"2008-08-15T15:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5862"},"modified":"2020-12-14T11:07:26","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T18:07:26","slug":"menage-1986","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5862","title":{"rendered":"Menage (1986)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Bob&#8217;s our only friend! He&#8217;s changed our lives with his magic wand&#8230;&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Menage-Poster2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Menage-Poster2-196x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-57793\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Menage-Poster2-196x300.png 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Menage-Poster2-669x1024.png 669w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Menage-Poster2-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Menage-Poster2-176x270.png 176w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Menage-Poster2.png 719w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA bisexual thief (Gerard Depardieu) entices a down-and-out couple (Michel Blanc and Miou-Miou) into joining him as he robs wealthy homes &#8212; then reveals that he has a crush on Antoine (Blanc).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strongGenres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bertrand Blier Films<\/li>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>French Films<\/li>\n<li>Gerard Depardieu Films<\/li>\n<li>Love Triangle<\/li>\n<li>Sexuality<\/li>\n<li>Thieves and Criminals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBertrand Blier&#8217;s darkly comedic sex caper moves in a series of entirely unexpected directions throughout its 84-minute running time. What at first appears to be a rather straightforward tale of a bickering couple turned on by the illicit thrills of thievery soon turns into a gay-themed exploration of desire and sexual identity, as Blanc&#8217;s ultra-reserved Antoine learns to appreciate and normalize the attention paid to him by the irresistibly forthright Bob (Depardieu); meanwhile, Miou-Miou&#8217;s sexually promiscuous Monique &#8212; the more obvious catalyst for marital destruction &#8212; is relegated to an increasingly degraded position in the trio&#8217;s crumbling &#8220;menage&#8221;. The first half hour of the film &#8212; during which Bob shows Antoine and Monique how to stroll into any mansion and discover its hidden riches &#8212; is so effectively satirical that one can&#8217;t help missing this narrative thread once it disappears completely; yet Blier&#8217;s willingness to explore his characters&#8217; sexuality far beyond normal comfort levels is impressive, and makes <em>Menage<\/em> worth a look by viewers willing to let go of more traditional narrative expectations. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gerard Depardieu as Bob<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/menage-depardieu.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/menage-depardieu.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5864\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Michel Blanc as Antoine<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/menage-blanc.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/menage-blanc.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5865\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Miou-Miou as Monique<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/menage-miou-miou.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/menage-miou-miou.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5866\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s certainly worth a look, and a must-see for any fans of Blier&#8217;s work. Listed as a Personal Recommendation in the Appendix to Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0092068\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1986\/10\/01\/movies\/film-festival-menage-a-comedy-from-bertrand-blier.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/menage-1986\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/style\/longterm\/movies\/videos\/mnagerattanasio_a0ad73.htm\">Washington Post Review (Paul Attanasio)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/style\/longterm\/movies\/videos\/menagenrkempley_a0cada.htm\">Washington Post Review (Rita Kempley)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/tenue-de-soiree\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Bob&#8217;s our only friend! He&#8217;s changed our lives with his magic wand&#8230;&#8221; Synopsis: A bisexual thief (Gerard Depardieu) entices a down-and-out couple (Michel Blanc and Miou-Miou) into joining him as he robs wealthy homes &#8212; then reveals that he has a crush on Antoine (Blanc).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5862"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57794,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5862\/revisions\/57794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}