Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2011: Lou Ye’s Love & Bruises

#24. Love and Bruises

Director: Lou Ye
Writer(s): Catherine Paille and Liu Jie Falin
Producers: Kristina Larsen and Vincent Maraval
Distributor: Rights Available.

The Gist: Formerly titled Bitch, this is an adaptation from Jie Liu-Falin’s autobiographical novel, Mathieu says, if she were a prostitute, for sure Flower would make a lot of money. He says she’s a born bitch. Any profession other than a prostitute would indeed be a waste of her gifts. Maybe he’s had few numerable women in his life, even though he boasts himself a veteran of love affairs; or maybe he just says it as a compliment to her, even though his flattering always goes too far, but no matter how, she can never be a prostitute.….(more)

Cast: Tahar Rahim, Jalil Lespert, Lika Minamoto, Sifan Shao and Corinne Yam

List Worthy Reasons…: If we thought that Tahar Rahim was the big talk of 2009’s Cannes with A Prophet, wait till you see what is in store with this rough and tough portrait. I’ll admit to not caring much about Lou Ye’s recent string of films which I felt were made with the intent of provocation without really making any deep resounding statement, this perhaps is due to the fact that I’m not part of the audience he he is personally addressing. Since its workshop days in Cannes, a.k.a “Bitch”, this could contain some filth and nastier components and I think this seventh picture might become a reference point of sorts, a seminal piece of work in Ye’s filmography. Worth mentioning: Ismaël Ferroukhi’s Les hommes libres in which Rahim stars may also show at the festival.

Release Date/Status?: Main Competition Cannes premiere in the cards followed by distribution deal by a company not afraid of the promoting a difficult film.