Mauvais Sang

1986 French film

26 November 1986 (1986-11-26)

Running time

116 minutesCountryFranceLanguageFrench

Mauvais Sang (French pronunciation: [movɛ sɑ̃], Bad Blood), also known as The Night Is Young, is Leos Carax's second film. Released in 1986, the film played at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival^[1] before being nominated for three César Awards and winning the Prix Louis-Delluc. The film sold 504,803 tickets in France.^[2] The title refers to Arthur Rimbaud's eponymous poem in A Season in Hell.^[3]

In the film, a sexually transmitted disease called STBO is sweeping the country; it spreads by sex without emotional involvement, and most of its victims are young people who have sex out of curiosity rather than commitment. A woman hires two men to steal the serum, which has been locked away in a pharmaceutical company's offices.

Plot

In the Paris of the not-too-distant future, a mysterious disease, STBO, is killing people who have sex without emotional involvement. A serum has been developed, but it is locked away out of the reach of those who need it. An American woman blackmails two aging crooks, Marc and Hans, into stealing it. Marc recruits Alex, a rebellious teenager whose father worked for him before his death. Alex has a girlfriend, Lise, but falls for Marc's lover, Anna.

Cast

Michel Piccoli as Marc
Juliette Binoche as Anna
Denis Lavant as Alex
Hans Meyer as Hans
Julie Delpy as Lise
Carroll Brooks as The American woman
Hugo Pratt as Boris
Mireille Perrier as The young mother
Serge Reggiani as Charlie
Jérôme Zucca as Thomas

Accolades

Berlin Film Festival 1987

Nominated for Golden Bear Award
Winner of Alfred Bauer Prize
Winner of C.I.C.A.E. Award

César Awards 1987

Nominated for Best Actress - Juliette Binoche
Most Promising Actress - Julie Delpy
Nominated for Best Cinematography - Jean-Yves Escoffier

Louis Delluc Prize 1986

Best Film

Production

Julie Delpy has said she came out of filming this movie traumatized: "It was a very difficult shoot. I had a motorcycle accident. In order to make the insurance work, I wasn't taken to the doctor right away. As a result, my leg became gangrenous—one more day and it was amputation. Moreover Leos Carax was not easy. The actress was not easy either."^[4]

Christian Faure was the assistant director of the movie.

References

^ "Berlinale: 1987 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
^ "Mauvais sang (1986)- JPBox-Office". Jpbox-office.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
^ "Mauvais sang - Premiers Plans - Angers festival 2013". Premiersplans.org. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
^ "Six Definitive Films: The ultimate beginner's guide to Julie Delpy". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2023.