Tournée

The women have names like Dirty Martini, Mimi Le Meaux or Kitten on the Keys and wear costumes with glitter and feathers, complimented by sequined underwear, false eyelashes, high heels, and tattoos. These performers from the US are stars of the new burlesque scene, which defies standard conceptions of beauty. They tour through the French provinces, taken care of by the neurotic, charismatic impresario Joachim Zand (Mathieu Amalric), who has promised them a show in Paris to bring the tour to a close. Yet the failed former TV producer can’t find any more supporters there. Inspired by a story by Colette from the time of the vaudeville revues, Amalric contrasts the glamour and the explicitness of the performances with the dreariness of all the different hotel lobbies and quiet moments full of melancholy. Not to be forgotten: an unforgettable flirt scene at a gas station. (bik)