Remember when it was reported that Abdellatif Kechiche was supposed to shoot his next film in the summer of 2023? Well, it was never shot. Kechiche and his producers did not agree on the budget. Kechiche’s film career has been quite the mess these last few years.
Last time we saw a film from Kechiche was in 2018, that’s when the 210-minute “Mektoub, My love: Intermezzo” shocked Cannes with its endless images of bare-butt twerking. The film has still not been released anywhere — it’s been in post-production hell for close to 6 years.
The sexually explicit film is now the stuff of legend. Kechiche claims to have been the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by the French media and star Ophelie Bau’s agent, adding that their sole purpose was to destroy his career. Mission accomplished.
He’s also iterated that Bau was more than happy to take the role and show her body off in ‘Mektoub’ and that she specifically requested a change in actors for the now infamously explicit cunnilingus sequence in order for her to shoot the scene with her then-boyfriend.
Whether you like him or not, Kechiche had a reputation as one of the best filmmakers working in France. He’s always had a keen eye for the way people speak and act in real life. He won the Palme d’Or in 2013 for “Blue is the Warmest Color.”
Last Spring, Kechiche and his editor had worked on another cut of “Mektoub”. There seems to be a completed version, somewhere out there, ready to go — rumored to not include Bau. However, Will a distributor step in and pick it up? Doesn’t look like it.