Romance (1999) on Netflix
Marie, a schoolteacher, shares a bed with Paul, who wants little sexual contact. She seeks intimacy with Paolo, a man she meets in a bar, and with her headmaster.
- Netflix2.5/5
- IMDb5.2/1013,487 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes50%
Trailer
Plot summary
Marie is a schoolteacher and is in a romantic relationship with Paul. The two share a bed, but Paul shows almost no interest in sex, and Marie, who loves him, cannot bear the lack of intimacy he allows. She meets a man named Paolo at a bar one morning, and they have sex. She also begins visiting Robert, the headmaster, at his house, and their sessions turn to bondage. In one of them she asks him to stop, and she admits she has pictured being tied up and gagged. Her growing appetite draws her into encounters she finds increasingly risky.
Cast
- Reza Habouhosseinas Man on stairs
- Fabien de Jomaronas Claude
- Pierre Maufrontas Photographer
- Antoine Amadoras Hairdresser
- Roman Rouzieras Echography technician
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Romance (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Caroline Ducey's 2024 autobiography La Prédation recounts the traumatizing sexual assault she says she endured during filming, notably the staircase sexual assault scene, for which she holds Catherine Breillat responsible.
- Ducey said the actor playing the predator performed unsimulated cunnilingus on her without her consent or the notice of anyone involved with the film, including Breillat.
- Ducey wrote that she saw director Catherine Breillat masturbate the male actor so he could keep his erection through the second take, which was fully simulated.
- Catherine Breillat appeared to confirm rumors of actual on-set sex in Romance, telling the New York Post: "An actor never pretends."
- Rocco Siffredi said he "did go all the way", Breillat said she was sure he did — or 90 per cent sure — but Caroline Ducey insisted he did not.
- Refused classification in Australia, Romance was granted an R18+ on appeal and singlehandedly paved the way for actual sex to be accommodated in the R18+ classification there.
- The British Board of Film Classification passed Romance uncut for cinemas, but home releases suffered a brief cut to an ejaculation shot.
