Product Details

• Actors: René-Marc Bini, Corine Blue, Romane Bohringer, Christophe Chantre, Clémentine Célarié
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: French
• Subtitles: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Polygram Video
• VHS Release Date: April 20, 1999
• Run Time: 126 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303236561
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,479 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #18 in	Video > Gay & Lesbian > Art House & International
  #84 in	Video > Drama > Gay & Lesbian
  #100 in	Video > Art House & International > European Cinema > France > Drama

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Savage Nights is a semi-autobiographical story of the rebellion of a suburban Frenchman with AIDS (writer-director Cyril Collard) who carelessly slips in and out of bisexual affairs. A major hit in France, where it won the César (the French equivalent of an Oscar) three days after its creator died of AIDS, this is a bitter, energetic look at love in the '90s, one that is far removed from Jonathan Demme's more whitewashed Philadelphia. Collard's story is jumbled, but his presence is inviting as a latter-day bohemian. Romane Bohringer (The Accompanist) plays one of his loves, a woman with maddening devotion. --Doug Thomas

From The New Yorker
This is the story of Jean, a young French bisexual filmmaker with AIDS, caught between the opposing charms of Laura (Romane Bohringer) and Samy (Carlos López). He is played by Cyril Collard, a young French bisexual filmmaker with AIDS, who also directed the movie and wrote the screenplay, based on his own original novel. The personal intensity of the project, sadly, does not end there: Collard died in March, 1993, three days after his work won four César awards, including the prize for best film. Bearing this in mind, it is hard to confront the film with a clear eye, but what one sees is vigorous, wordy, and broken-backed. For those who who found "Philadelphia" too kindly and sanitized, the emotional dirt of "Savage Nights" will come as a relief; when Laura learns of Jean's condition, she throws a fit and then takes off his condom, wanting to prove her love with perilous sex. It's that old French refrain, the dark poetry of the death wish, and the best scenes consist simply of the hero gunning his red sports car through the night. But the movie disintegrates badly, and loses force; the characters seem not so much to be living through their experiences as using them to strike a philosophical pose. When Laura starts confiding her thoughts to Jean's answering machine, you, too, will be longing for the end. In French. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Savage Life?, March 14, 2000

By	Will Benson (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

i completely agreee with the other reviewers. this is a life giving film that intrigues me every time i watch it. why? because it is real life. no apologies, no sermons, no backing away. i am deeply sorry that mr collard is not around to enlighten us some more. the film is rough, tough and gritty, but so is life. i treasure this film among my favorites. this was his life and whether we love it, hate it or just accept it, he brings his life (right or wrong)to us in a film that cannot be more truthful or more sincerely portrayed as he has done. i admire his humanity.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unusual and Effective, March 2, 2001

By A Customer

This film centers on a bisexual in Paris who has a rough relationship with alot of people, including his parents, his girlfriend, and homophobics. The film itself is as realistic as fiction can get, and entertains without needing sensationalism. The end sequences, where time is filmicly altered to give someone a second chance at love, hit a deep current in me. This may be a 'gay interest' film, but for someone like me who is not gay but appreciates a courageous, quality film, this is an intriguing, unusual pick.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awsome, educational, gutsy, August 3, 2000

By A Customer

I just now discovered this movie. At first I was shocked because it was not something I expected to see. This one is definetly one of my favorite movies (I have my own copy of 'Savage Nights" film and a novel it was based on). It is very sad that the author is not with us anymore. I can realy admire him and his work for being so open and honest, I am sure locking those qualities. I give Cyril Collard and his movie a 10 star rating.