Abuse of Weakness
Description
Beginning in 2004, filmmaker/novelist Catherine Breillat had a series of debilitating strokes connected to a previously undiagnosed cerebrovascular disease. During her long, grueling recovery, she became fascinated by international con man Christophe Rocancourt. She decided only he could play the leading part in her next film. Their close friendship ended with a bang in 2009—when Breillat sued Rocancourt for conning her out of nearly $1 million. No stranger to discomfiting her audience—or herself—Breillat fictionalizes that recent life chapter here, with the inimitable Isabelle Huppert as stroke-felled filmmaker/novelist “Maud Shainberg.” Maud invites into her life notorious celebrity “crook” Vilko Piran (French rapper Kool Shen). The two fast become thick as, well, thieves. The title Abuse of Weakness suggests a simple victimization that is in fact much more complex and ambiguous in Breillat’s queasy, thinly veiled self-portrait. In Huppert’s fearless performance, Maud is perversely willing prey to “wild animal” Vilko. He’s rude, bullying, seductive—but then she is often demanding, arrogant and contrary herself. Their interdependency has elements of a marriage (though he’s already married) and an affair (though it’s platonic). These are two prickly, high-maintenance people determined to get the most out of each other, for better or worse. The fact that it’s very likely to be “for worse” seems key to their mutual attraction. –Dennis Harvey
Born in 1948 in Bressuire, France, Breillat’s bold portrayals of sexuality and gender relations attracted controversy from the outset. At 17, her first novel Easy Man was banned from readers under 18 by the French government; a decade later her directorial feature debut A Real Young Girl (1976) stirred further outrage, going unreleased until 1999. Twelve years later 36 Fillette, an international success, laid path for the provocative likes of Romance (1999), Fat Girl (2001) and The Last Mistress (SFIFF 2008). She has also taught film studies at various European universities.
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/89747421?autoplay=1Film Details
Language French
Original Language Title Abus de faiblesse
Year 2013
Runtime 104
Country France/Belgium/Germany
Director Catherine Breillat
Producer Jean-François Lepetit
Writer Catherine Breillat
Editor Pascale Chavance
Cinematographer Alain Marcoen
Music Didier Lockwood
Cast Isabelle Huppert, Kool Shen, Laurence Ursino
Print Source Strand Releasing/ mike@strandreleasing.com