1979: there‘s a killer on the loose in the Parisian gay scene. After a silent flirt in a lush blue-lit disco, the masked figure clad in black leather drags their first victim away, chains them to a bed, and penetrates them with a knife dildo. After the second murder it becomes clear that the killer is focused on the cast of the newest porn by director Anne (Vanessa Paradis), a situation that the police isn‘t too bothered with. Anne has to get to the bottom of things herself, even if the borderline alcoholic is still suffering from ending her relationship with editor Lois (Kate Moran). Anne‘s first approach of processing the murder in her next film unsettles her cast rather then giving her answers, but when a pen is found at several crime scenes, Anne gets on the right track.

KNIFE + HEART‘s is clearly influenced by the stylistic elements of the giallo and the psychological thriller which is obvious before Anne casts herself as a housewife whose contact with gays has driven her to madness and murder in the finale. Visually inventive, Yann Gonzalez‘ film also has a stronger emotional foundation than the abstruse obsessions of the old giallo killers or the pure stylistic excesses of Cattet and Forzani. The gender swap, wherein the young men are attractive but interchangeable while a real emotional connection is built with the women, pushes the plot forward and gives the film its own heart amongst all of its meta layers and allusions.

Christian Klose

Translation: Elinor Lewy