One may not 'enjoy' the 'Anatomy of Hell' while seeing it in the cinema. It is a very tense experience and most scenes are surprisingly confronting. Go alone and see it anonymously as it may well be a part of human nature to deny such a deep cut- to-the-bone depict of the 'naked' human relations.
'Romance' is about how men treat women and 'Anatomy of Hell' is about how men 'view' and treat women. However, from 'Romance' to 'Anatomy of Hell', while men stay at same, SHE is liberated! She is no longer longing for the impossible of men recognition and driven to despair as in 'Romance', in 'Anatomy of Hell', she lies there and knows TOO WELL that all the sins in the world are caused by the view of her body (AS IF!).
From the high class sex scandals to the street gang rapes, the essence is the same. The very abstract notions of Catherine Breillat's view on misogyny only can be illustrated via the extreme excessive sex scenes. If the extreme sex scenes are taken out form both the 'Romance' and the 'Anatomy of Hell' (as they both have caused censorship controversial in Australia), would the same points be made? The answer is definitely NO.
'Romance' and 'Anatomy of Hell' are the only two films of Catherine Breillat's I have seen. I definitely will try to see the other films she ever made.
