Échanges de partenaires

If Shocking! can be described as Mulot’s Dr. Strangelove, then Exchange of Partners is his Lolita, which, after all, the film references with the iconic glasses worn by the seductress Ange. Like Shocking!, however, this film is not a copy or a parody, but a paraphrase of key motifs using the principles and genre rules of porn. Therefore, instead of an underage seductress who confounds men with the unfulfilled promise of forbidden fruit, there is a newly grown-up manipulator who uses sex as a means of amusement based on subverting monogamous fidelity. Though a porn flick bearing the straightforward title Exchange of Partners doesn’t exactly raise expectations, Mulot’s script turns one of the hardcore genre’s biggest clichés into the basis of an elaborate relationship drama in which sex is not an attraction but a natural part of relationships and their dynamics. After all, some of the film’s sex scenes come across as rather asexual or even disturbing thanks to the situations in which they put the characters and the way they transform their relationships. Furthermore, Exchange of Partners is one of Mulot’s best screenplays. This time, the author left humour and satire aside in the interest of drama and delivers a carefully constructed narrative that cleverly builds anticipation through the gradual revealing and deepening of the motivations and relationships of the individual characters. The main narrative device for achieving this is flashbacks, through which the current situation is given tension thanks to a previously unnoticed context, while also serving to express the conscience and iniquities of the characters. Instead of the literalness and formulaic nature that is typical not only of porn, but also of many “serious” relationship movies, Mulot presents a drama conveyed mostly through telling glances and the dramatic counterpoint of situations, where each sequence brings a new perspective on the relationships in the film along with the tension of not knowing which way the situation will further develop. He thus created one of the most successful and, thanks to the inclusion of sex scenes, most authentic films on the theme of infidelity and conscience. (28.09.2014)