Film

Given what Breillat’s Anatomy of Hell did for the gothic romance—namely, place the two “lovers” in an off-putting arena of sexual one-upmanship, at one point incorporating a rusty garden hoe—it’s no surprise that with The Last Mistress, the scandal-courting French director aims to coarsen the corset drama. Her homage to Choderlos de Laclos (based on an 1851 novel by Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly) sets its tone in its opening scene, which shows Lonsdale lustily scarfing down a chicken dinner. Other movies feature duels between the young suitor and the elderly husband whose wife he’s seduced. But until now, none has included the sight of Argento licking the bullet wound.

The boyish libertine in question (Aattou) never seems to age, even though he tells his story in flashbacks that span a decade. He’s about to be married to a young woman from a good background (Mesquida, again playing the victim, as in Breillat’s Fat Girl and Sex Is Comedy), but the reappearance of a feral old flame (Argento, a force of nature) poses a threat. With its aura of romantic intrigue, this could be a Breillat film for people who’ve never seen any of her abrasive, hard-core disquisitions on the battle of the sexes. Still, flaunting the artifice of her sets, Breillat slyly plays this melodrama for her own brand of raunchy comedy.