An Empty Hole Spoilers herein. This film finds a place amidst the corners of `Last Tango in Paris,' `In the Mood for Love,' `Go Fish,' and `Trois Couleurs: Bleu.' Sex as performance, life as audience of self. In terms of cinematic power, this is somewhat like `The Designated Mourner' in the sense of being a spoken meditation on self. It happens to be illustrated frankly, but to my mind effectively. This has some of the longest shots I can recall. All are narratively from the point of view of Marie. All are of her but also seen through her eyes. The two exceptions are jarring and therefore more shocking than the sex, which I found entirely natural. The first is a fantasy sequence toward the end, a much mentioned brothel/birthing split. The second is the last two minutes with a similarly fantastic and equally imagined death. They seemed Terry Gilliamish and out of place. I simply couldn't comprehend the space. This film has value in the place it defines and the rather insidious writing. It introduces some clever ideas that aren't really ideas, rather anti-ideas. And that's the point. This writing seemed more effective for me in the English subtitles than the English dubbing which was quite different. The subtitles were very much more poetic, if terse. `The son begets the Mother.' `Beauty feeds on degradation.' `There's a hole in your teaching.' `I can't even yield to myself.' There is a live birth here, something else that doesn't fit the carefully constructed abstract mood. But it is so much more powerful than a similar scene (intended for a similar effect in the same context) in Altman's `Dr T and the Women.' This is not great filmmaking, but it is worthwhile writing I think.