Pigalle (1994)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Karim Dridi

Writer:

Karim Dridi (writer)

Release Date:

1 February 1995 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In the seedy neon-lit underworld of the Pigalle district of Paris, animalistic survival obscures all moral codes...

Plot Keywords:

Pigalle Paris | Gay Interest | Paris France | Male Prostitute

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Véra Briole	...	Véra
Francis Renaud	...	Fifi
Raymond Gil	...	Fernande
Bobby Pacha	...	Pacha
Blanca Li	...	Divine
Philippe Ambrosini	...	Malfait
Younesse Boudache	...	Mustaf
Jean-Michel Fête	...	P'tit Fred
Christian Saunier	...	Cri-Cri
Christian Auger	...	René
Olindo Cavadini	...	Polo
Roger Desprez	...	Elegant Roger
Patrick Chauvel	...	Jésus le Gitan
Jean-Claude Grenier	...	The Emperor
Jean-Jacques Jauffret	...	Marc-Antoine
Jacky Bapps	...	Forceps
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Philippe Nahon

Directed by
Karim Dridi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Karim Dridi		writer

Produced by
Pierre Assouline	....	co-producer
Romain Brémond	....	producer
Patrice Haddad	....	producer

Original Music by
Alain Bashung

Cinematography by
John Mathieson

Film Editing by
Lise Beaulieu

Makeup Department
Hue Lan Van Duc	....	key makeup artist

Sound Department
Vincent Guillon	....	assistant sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Gordon Spooner	....	assistant camera

Other crew
Florence Forney	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Delfilm
• Première Heure
• Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)

Distributors

• LK-TEL Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Leo Films (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Seventh Art Releasing (1995) (USA) (subtitled)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

France | Switzerland

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Delfilm

Soundtrack:

Amuey Amuey

A Gritty Story in the Seediest Red Light District of Paris

PIGALLE has all the ingredients of a splendid little exposé of the infamous sector of crime in the City of Light. The problem is there is so little actual 'light' in the camera work that much of what happens in this film cannot be seen! Pigalle is an area in Paris infamous for being an historic and a current zone of drug conclaves, prostitution (both male and female and every cross in between), peep show and strip clubs, junkies, thieves and murderers. In this mire swell all of the characters of this story. Divine (Blanca Li) is a transvestite performer in a club run by fellow transvestite Fernande (Raymond Gil) and Divine is in love with Fifi (Francis Renaud), a male street hustler and thief who in addition to his affair with Divine has an ongoing flirtation with Véra (Véra Briole), a woman who works as a stripper and peep show dancer but refuses to be a prostitute. Véra lives with her pimp Jésus le Gitan (Patrick Chauvel) whose primary occupation is drug dealing. Add to this smarmy group a large cast of deviates and druggies and hardcore criminals and you have the populace of Pigalle.

The story involves the murders of both Divine and Jésus: the drug lords 'convince' Véra to talk Fifi into being the hit man to revenge the killings. How all of this fits together - the consequences of betrayal and the desperate need for love that consumes each of the main characters - brings the tale to a grisly close.

This is a tale of survival in the amoral streets of Pigalle and writer/director Karim Dridi certainly knows how to create atmosphere commensurate with his story. There is excessive drug use, violence, and loathing that at times threaten to drown the little story, but were it filmed in any other way it would not have the impact that permeates this 1994 French film. In French with English subtitles, Not recommended for the squeamish, but recommended for those who enjoy film noir! Grady Harp