Wild Side

In an unusual way, three social outcasts find support through each other in Wild Side (the title refers to Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed). Stéphanie is 32, transsexual, a prostitute and tired of life. She finds incidental moments of happiness by going out or hanging around with her colleagues and girlfriends. Stéphanie lives with Jamel, who also occasionally works as a prostitute. When Stéphanie meets the Russian Michail, a deserter and illegal immigrant in France, she can’t choose between the two men and a triangular relationship ensues. Then she hears her mother is seriously ill and travels to her childhood home, where her mother still calls her Pierre. Jamel and Michail go with her. There, in the wintry countryside of Northern France, the three lose their urban distractions and escapes. Memories of their past and thoughts about the present get plenty of room. Harsh close-ups and uncompromising sex scenes illustrate the hectic, restless life the three protagonists lead in Paris. In shrill contrast, the scenes in the countryside are tender and tranquil. Lifshitz provides a realistic picture of the life of his characters, without glorifying or glamorising the fringes of society.