BANG GANG (A MODERN LOVE STORY) /
Une histoire d’amour moderne

 

West Coast Premiere • Drama • France, 2015

DCP • 2.35 • Dolby 5.1 • Color • 98 min

Directed by: Eva Husson

Written by: Eva Husson

Cinematography: Mattias Troelstrup

Film Editing: Émilie Orsini

Original Score: Morgan Kibby

Produced by: Didar Domehri (Maneki Films), Laurent Baudens (Borsalino Productions), Full House

Cast: Finnegan Oldfield (Alex), Marilyn Lima (George), Lorenzo Lefèbvre (Gabriel), Daisy Broom (Laetitia), Fred Hotier (Nikita), Manuel Husson (Le père de Gabriel) 

International Sales: Films Distribution • filmsdistribution.com

U.S. Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn • samuelgoldwynfilms.com

U.S. Release Date: June 17, 2016

 

A heat wave isn’t the only thing in full swing in this steamy drama about rich kids in the coastal town of Biarritz stripping down and shaking off that mid-summer ennui. Young George (Marilyn Lima, think adolescent Bardot painted by Botticelli) unexpectedly falls for Alex after he coaxes her into a casual encounter. When the feelings aren’t reciprocated, George tries to remind him what he’s missing by instigating a game of truth or dare with enough dare in it to put a glint in the eye of a porn impresario. Aided by some selfies and the internet, word spreads, and what began as an attempt to spark a little jealously explodes into a furious wildfire of sexual discovery. George, Alex, and their growing circle of libertine teens are now determined to find their limits, consequences be damned.

 

Twenty years after Kids arrived like a “cultural blitzkrieg,” Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) was raising eyebrows at its Toronto International Film Festival premiere. Although the film’s explicit depiction of too-much too-young sex invites that comparison, first-time feature writer/director Eva Husson was thinking more Wong Kar-Wei than Larry Clark. An AFI graduate, Husson made a splash with her mid-length, Death Valley-set Those For Whom It’s Always Complicated (2013), which French audiences would have seen on Arte. She has also made videos for music acts such as Florence and the Machine and M83. Husson conscripted M83 collaborator Morgan Kibby to make the film’s mesmerizing synth beat soundtrack.

 

QUOTES:

“Astutely milking its erotic appeal - and treading a delicate fine line this side of exploitation.”

–Jonathan Romney Screen Daily

“Artfully shot and directed … Bang Gang delivers on its promise of modern love.”

– Jared Mobarak