Romance is a 1999 French movie written and directed by Catherine Breillat

Catherine Breillat

Catherine Breillat is a French filmmaker, novelist and Professor of Auteur Cinema at the European Graduate School.-Life and career:Breillat was born in Bressuire, Deux-Sèvres, but grew up in Niort...

. It stars Caroline Ducey

Caroline Ducey

Caroline Ducey is a French actress, who appeared in 34 films since 1994.Outside of her home country, she is best known for her controversial role in Catherine Breillat's 1999 film Romance...

, pornographic actor

Pornographic actor

A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...

 Rocco Siffredi

Rocco Siffredi

Rocco Siffredi is the stage name of an Italian pornographic actor, director and producer of pornographic movies, famous for his rough sex scenes...

, Sagamore Stévenin

Sagamore Stevenin

Sagamore Stévenin is a French actor, sometimes also listed Thomas Stévenin in film credits. Sagamore's father is the actor Jean-François Stévenin. Also in the acting profession are his brother Louis-Robinson Stévenin and his sister Salomé Stévenin. He began his career in the early 80s as a child...

 and François Berléand

François Berléand

François Berléand is a French actor.Berléand was born in Paris, France of . He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in Le Bureau, the French version of The Office, produced by Canal+. He released a book about his childhood in 2006, Le fils de l'homme invisible...

. The film features explicit copulation scenes, especially one showing Caroline Ducey

Caroline Ducey

Caroline Ducey is a French actress, who appeared in 34 films since 1994.Outside of her home country, she is best known for her controversial role in Catherine Breillat's 1999 film Romance...

's coitus with Rocco Siffredi

Rocco Siffredi

Rocco Siffredi is the stage name of an Italian pornographic actor, director and producer of pornographic movies, famous for his rough sex scenes...

. Romance inspired the trend of some arthouse films featuring explicit, unsimulated sex, such as All About Anna

All About Anna

All About Anna is a Danish pornographic film released in 2005, directed by Jessica Nilsson and starring Gry Bay and Mark Stevens. The film is explicit in its exploration of sexual relationships...

, Shortbus

Shortbus

Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by...

, The Brown Bunny

The Brown Bunny

The Brown Bunny is a 2003 independent American art house film written, produced and directed by actor Vincent Gallo about a motorcycle racer on a cross-country drive who is haunted by memories of his former lover. The film had its world premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival to boos and catcalls...

, and 9 Songs

9 Songs

9 Songs is a 2004 British film directed by Michael Winterbottom. The title refers to the nine songs played by eight different rock bands that complement the story of the film...

.

Plot synopsis

When Marie's boyfriend Paul refuses to have sex with her, she is forced to search for intimacy beyond the bounds of traditional sexual limitations, a journey that proves to be both fulfilling and empowering.

Broadcasting and Ratings

In Europe, Romance was shown in mainstream cinemas; in the U.S., it was reduced to a mainstream-acceptable R-rating, and the European original version is un-rated. In March 2004, the original version was broadcast, late-night on German public television. In Australia, the original version of Romance was broadcast uncut on the cable television network "World Movies". In Canada, particularly in Alberta and the Maritimes, the sexuality was seen as gratuitous to the film and it was given an A rating

Canadian motion picture rating system

Motion picture ratings in Canada are mostly a provincial responsibility, and each province has its own legislation regarding exhibition and admission...

 and XXX rating in those regions. In June 2008, in the Netherlands, the original version of Romance was broadcast on Dutch public TV, by VPRO

VPRO

The VPRO was established in the Netherlands in 1926 as a religious broadcasting organization. Falling under the Protestant pillar, it represented the Liberal Protestant current...

, as one of a series of Erotica art house cinema.

See also

• Sadism and masochism in fiction
  Sadism and masochism in fiction
  The role of sadism and masochism in fiction attracts serious, scholarly attention. Anthony Storr has commented that the volume of sadomasochist pornography shows that sadomasochistic interest is widespread in Western society; John Kucich has noted the importance of masochism in late-19th century...
  
  
• List of mainstream movies with unsimulated sex
  Unsimulated sex in film
  Unsimulated sex in mainstream cinema was at one time restricted by law and self-imposed industry standards such as the Motion Picture Production Code. Films showing explicit sexual activity were confined to privately distributed underground films, such as stag films or "porn loops"...