If the combination of director Catherine Breillat (Anatomy of Hell, Fat Girl) and reigning mistress of darkness Asia Argento makes you feel a little nervous, you have good reason. Both women have pushed the boundaries of taste, occasionally with their tongues. (Witness Asia and her enormous rottweiler in Abel Ferraras's Go Go Tales, also in this year's VIFF).

Based on the novel by Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, this is the story of a ménage à trois between an aristocratic libertine named Ryno de Marigny (Fu'ad Aït Aattou), his old mistress, and his new life. Argento is Vellini, an Andalusian courtesan, ringleted, corseted and almost dripping sex. Is it any wonder that she draws the attention of the equally luscious Ryno, who is perhaps even prettier than his lover? They make a tempestuous pair, their torturous couplings composed of equal amounts violence and lust. "It wasn't love, but endless fury," says Ryno. But after ten years of torrid wrangling, and the tragic death of their young child, Ryno leaves Vellini to marry an angelic aristocrat named Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida). On the eve of his wedding, he tells the girl's grandmother the Marquise de Flers (Claude Sarraute) his seamy history, maintaining that his love affair with La Vellini is now over. But of course, his old mistress might have something quite different to say about that. Argento, with her gravel-voice, dark-ringed eyes and slinking feline grace, is a wonderment to behold. She bring serious erotic heat to this costume drama, helped along by Breillat's characteristically provocative directorial style.

The VIFF gratefully acknowledges the support of the Consulate General for France in Vancouver for their help in presenting the Spotlight on France series and for their invaluable assistance in facilitating the participation of French filmmakers at the Festival.

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