''The Smell of Us'' is a 2014 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Larry Clark Lawrence Donald Clark (born January 19, 1943) is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his controversial teen film '' Kids'' (1995) and his photography book ''Tulsa'' (1971). His work focuses pri ...

, focusing on the lives of several upper-class young people in Paris, skateboarding and having sex for pay. It was screened in the Venice Days section at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, and screened in France in 2015.

Plot

Math, Marie, and JP are teenagers living in Paris. They used to hang out close to the Tokyo Palace, a modern art museum. They spend their time skating, smoking pot, drinking and filming each other the whole day. Developing extreme behaviours towards life, they do not hesitate to prostitute themselves just for fun and they keep taking drugs while having sex.

Cast

*Lukas Ionesco as Math * Diane Rouxel as Marie * Théo Cholbi as Pacman * Hugo Behar-Thinières as JP * Ben Yaiche Ryan as Guillaume * Adrien Binh Doan as Minh * Terin Maxime as Toff *

Michael Pitt Michael Carmen Pitt (born April 10, 1981) is an American actor, model, and musician. In film, he has appeared in ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film), Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (2001), ''Bully (2001 film), Bully'' (2001), ''Murder by Numbers'' ...

as a street musician *Larry Clark as a drunk bum

Reception

''The Smell of Us'' was not widely reviewed, and was mostly received unfavorably, as a voyeuristic, inferior French rehash of '' Kids'', with little story. In a 1-star review, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'''s

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

wrote, "This film is joyless, passionless, humourless, incurious about real people's real lives. There is no energy or verve, just the compulsive persistence of the porn addict." Jessica Kiang of '' IndieWire'' described it as "a film so horrible it manages to significantly outdo the repulsiveness of its title." Boyd Van Hoeij of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' characterized it as an "impressionistic and downright depressing tale of adolescent sexuality." Dillard Clayton of '' Slant'' called it "yet another entry in the filmmaker’s growingly tiresome oeuvre". Mark Adams of '' Screen'' acknowledged that its "characters are largely bland and one-dimensional", but more positively described the film as "provocative and challenging" and "littered with stylish and beautiful moments"

Bibliography

Stéphane Delorme, "Mort à Paris" in : Les Cahiers du Cinéma, Janvier 2015 n°707

References

External links

* 2014 films French coming-of-age drama films 2010s coming-of-age drama films French LGBTQ-related films Films about male prostitution in France Films directed by Larry Clark Films about prostitution in Paris 2010s LGBTQ-related drama films Gay-related films 2014 drama films 2014 LGBTQ-related films 2010s French films 2010s French-language films {{LGBT-drama-film-stub