Bertrand Blier's Tenue de soirée | Ménage / Evening Dress (1986)

Bertrand Blier's films are of course a little out of the usual. This is a weird film in a sense, although bearing in mind Blier's films in general it should perhaps be accepted as par for the course. Much like in Les Valseuses we have a trio, but as Patrick Dewaere had killed himself four years previously Blier had to find Depardieu and Miou-Miou another member of the gang – hence, er, Michel Blanc.

Bob (Depardieu) stumbles upon a violent conversation in a bar or club between Monique (Miou-Miou) and her partner Antoine (Blanc), in which she rails against her poverty-stricken life – they are later found to live in a wreck of a tiny caravan – and the fact that she's not had a bath in a long time.

Along comes an inferior knight in less than shining armour in the shape of Bob, who slaps Monique to the floor and hurls a large sum of money at her. A few moments later Bob is lavishing them with more money and telling them that it's easy to get. Er, how?

In no time Bob has introduced Monique and Antoine to the twilight world of the burglary of mansions, and he has a nose (yes, of course we think of Cyrano) for where the upper middle-class stash their money. With a little initial reluctance, Bob has two protégés, although Antoine the bald-headed weed will take some time to come round.

Monique is smitten and sees Bob as her entrée to a new world, one of living well above the poverty line. Unfortunately her attempts to coax Bob away from her partner with her sexual charms leave him cold: he's had loads of women, but got bored, and now he's in love with Antoine.

Not without Monique's disagreement Bob manages to claim Antoine's ass, but the trouble (for Monique) is that Bob really likes anal sex, so Monique is side-lined, and in the end isn't even allowed in on a threesome. She rebels and is tempted away from the Bob/Antoine duo by Pedro (Michel Creton), whose place on the Costa del Sol is the decisive factor. Of course, she doesn't realise that Bob has just sold her into Pedro the pimp's prostitute ring.

So Bob lives with Antoine in the latter's hell, where Bob treats him as a wife to do the cooking and household chores while he enjoys himself with other men. Until Antoine explodes at the abuse he's going through and Bob buys female clothes for Antoine and takes him to a gay night club: disaster, as Monique is there touting for custom, Antoine becomes a killer and is close to killing Bob.

Unfortunately the film falls flat on its face at the end when the trio all become prostitutes, with Bob and Antoine as transvestites. It's a pity, as this film has potentially a great deal to say about  gender and sexuality change in general.