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Catherine Breillat is back on MIFF screens after her immensely popular and controversial film Romance steamed up screens in 1999. Sex is Comedy sees Breillat venture into new territory—pseudo-documentary—as she examines, wrth her tongue firmly planted in her cheek, the natune of making films, and specifically sex scenes. Rather than demystifing the filmmaking process, Breillat, taking as a cue her 2001 success A ma soeuri, effectively highlights that the mystery cannot be truly permeated.
Director Jeanne (Anne Parillaud) is consumed with filming a difficult sex scene. Her 'stars', Gregoire Colin (Beau Travail, MIFF 2000) and Roxane Mesquida, effectively reprising her role from A ma soeur!, are the centre of attention, required to 'perform' when 'Action!' is called. Full of sly knowing humour, Sex is Comedy is a delightfully voyeuristic experience as Breillat leads us into the world of a film set complete with a nervous cast, a giant fake penis and a crew with nerves of steel.