The Smell of Us

The Smell of Us is a 2014 French drama film directed by Larry Clark, focusing on the lives of several middle-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,[3][4][5] and screened in France in 2015.

The Smell of Us
Film poster
Directed byLarry Clark
Written byMathieu Landais
Larry Clark
StarringLukas Ionesco
Diane Rouxel
CinematographyHélène Louvart
Edited byMarion Monnier
Music byHoward Paar
Distributed byJour2Fête
Release dates
  • 31 August 2014 (2014-08-31) (Venice Days)
  • 14 January 2015 (2015-01-14) (France)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget€2.7 million[1]
Box office$87 thousand[2]

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 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.[6][7][4] In a 1-star review, The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw 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."[8] Jessica Kiang of IndieWire described it as "a film so horrible it manages to significantly outdo the repulsiveness of its title."[9] Boyd Van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter characterized it as an "impressionistic and downright depressing tale of adolescent sexuality."[10] Dillard Clayton of Slant called it "yet another entry in the filmmaker’s growingly tiresome oeuvre".[7] 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"[11]

Bibliography

Stéphane Delorme, "Mort à Paris" in : Les Cahiers du Cinéma, Janvier 2015 n°707[12]

References
  1. "The Smell of Us". JP's Box-Office.
  2. "The Smell of Us". Box Office Mojo.
  3. Ariston Anderson (30 July 2014). "Larry Clark's 'The Smell of Us' to Premiere at Venice Days". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  4. Peter Debruge (27 August 2014). "Venice Film Review: 'The Smell of Us'". Variety. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  5. Cyril Béghin et Jean-Philippe Tessé. "Octobre 2014, n°704 : Venice, festival des indés(irables)". Cahiers du Cinéma.
  6. Hoeij, Boyd van (2014-08-27). "'The Smell of Us': Venice Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  7. Dillard, Clayton (2015-02-24). "Film Comment Selects 2015: The Smell of Us". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  8. Peter Bradshaw (31 August 2014). "The Smell of Us review: Larry Clark's passionless voyeur flick". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  9. Kiang, Jessica (2014-09-01). "Venice Review: Larry Clark's 'The Smell Of Us' Featuring Michael Pitt… And Larry Clark". IndieWire. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  10. van Hoeij, Boyd (2014-08-27). "'The Smell of Us': Venice Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  11. Adams, Mark (2014-08-27). "The Smell Of Us". Screen. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  12. Stéphane Delorme. "Édito janvier 2015 Les 20 ans de Larry Clark". Cahiers du Cinéma.


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