Pigalle (film)

Pigalle
Pigalle
Directed by	Karim Dridi
Written by	Karim Dridi
Produced by	Romain Brémond ; Patrice Haddad
Starring	Véra Briole ; Francis Renaud
Cinematography	John Mathieson
Edited by	Lise Beaulieu
Music by	Antidote ; Alain Bashung
Release date	1994;
Language	French

Pigalle is a 1994 French neo-noir film written and directed by Karim Dridi and starring Véra Briole and Francis Renaud.^[2]

The film was entered into the main competition at the 51st edition of the Venice Film Festival.^[3] It was also nominated at the 1996 César Awards for Best First Feature Film.^[4]

Plot

The film is set in the Pigalle district of Paris, which is known for its dark and depraved underworld, with strip joints, peep shows, sex shops, drug dens and prostitution. Within this seedy district, rival drug dealers compete against each other, using others (like pawns) in dangerous battles. In one of these battles, is 'Divine' (Blanca Li), a transsexual and transvestite who performs in a nightclub. Her lover is 'Fifi' (Francis Renaud), who is a pickpocket and street hustler. He also flirts with 'Vera' (Véra Briole), who works as a striptease dancer and attraction at a peep show. She lives with 'Jesus le Gitan' (Patrick Chauvel), a career counselor and a small-time drug dealer. Divine is bullied to death, by a dwarf and large thug into giving some important information to one drug dealer 'Malfait' (Philippe Ambrosini). Jesus is then found next dead, decapitated in Vera's bed. Another rival drug dealer forces Véra to coerce Fifi into becoming a hitman.

Cast

Véra Briole as Véra
Francis Renaud as Fifi
Raymond Gil as Fernande
Bobby Pacha as Le Pacha
Blanca Li as Divine
Philippe Ambrosini as Le Malfait
Younesse Boudache as Mustaf
Jean-Michel Fête as P'tit Fred
Christian Saunier as Cri-Cri
Christian Auger as René
Olindo Cavadini as Polo
Roger Desprez as Roger l'Elégant
Patrick Chauvel as Le Gitan
Jean-Claude Grenier as l'Empereur
Jean-Jacques Jauffret as Marc-Antoine
Jacky Baps as Forceps
Philippe Nahon as Lezzi

Reception

David Rooney of Variety (magazine) stated in 1994, that the film is "bruising but unexpectedly redemptive tract perhaps piles on one or two tragedies too many".^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Rooney, David (19 September 1994). "Pigalle". Variety. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
^ David Rooney (September 19, 1994). "Review: 'Pigalle'". Variety. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
^ Roderick Conway Morris (September 7, 1994). "At Venice Festival, a Meeting of the Simpletons and Psychopaths". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
^ "Césars 1996: nominations". Libération. 15 January 1996. Retrieved 21 October 2015.