Otherwise Gazon Maudit is a consistently funny movie, as refreshing as it is adventurous, played with impeccable panache by its four leading actors. Incidentally, the French title literally means "cursed lawn" and is a slang term used by the two women to describe female genitalia. The film has been released in Britain in both subtitled and dubbed versions the version showing here is the sub titled one. The running battle between the older man and his portage continues outside the ring in verbal jousting. It suddenly takes on a serious tone when they're flying a sleek stealth bomber on a test run and the Travolta character a Gulf War veteran bitter at being passed over for promotion steals its cargo of two nuclear warheads. The film's title is not a reference to the 1950 Delmer Daves western of the same name but to the military parlance for missing nuclear devices. French Twist was selected as France's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 68th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. [4] [5] Plot [ edit ] French Twist ( French: Gazon maudit) is a 1995 French comedy cult film written and directed by Josiane Balasko. It is among the few French films that have released a dubbed version for English-speaking audiences. Its title in French is untranslatable but 'Cursed Lawn' is a close approximation. It also refers to the shaving (or not) of pubic hair, a subtle joke in French alluding to the subject matter of the film. [2] [3]

The film features Balasko as Marijo, a former musician and club DJ whose chance visit to the Avignon home of a petit bourgeois couple has far reaching implications for all three characters. The husband, Laurent played by the established French television comic, Alain Chabat is a philandering estate agent who is constantly inventing business commitments to embark on adulterous liaisons and is too tired to have sex with his wife when he gets home. Loli, his wife played by the sparkling Victoria Abril is a Spaniard who gave up her career as a dancer when she married Laurent and spends her time taking care of their two young sons.Pour mémoire, Gazon maudit suit Laurent et Loli : tous deux forment un couple heureux qui vit bourgeoisement dans une petite ville du Sud. Mais un jour Marijo tombe en panne avec son camping-car, juste devant leur maison. Laurent et Marijo n'ont qu'un point en commun : ils aiment tous les deux les femmes...

With her nomination to the César Award for Best Director, Josiane Balasko is the sixth woman in history to be nominated in this category, after Ariane Mnouchkine, Agnès Varda, Coline Serreau, Christine Pascal and Nicole Garcia.

Josiane Balasko called making a film involving lesbianism "a difficult challenge, since all I had as references on the subject were movies made mostly by men about men; male homosexuality has been shown on the screen thoroughly, unlike lesbianism, which has been kept silent and taboo." [6]