The Exterminating Angels

2006 film by Jean-Claude Brisseau

The Exterminating Angels
Theatrical release poster

French	Les Anges exterminateurs

Directed by	Jean-Claude Brisseau
Written by	Jean-Claude Brisseau
Produced by	Milena Poylo Gilles Sacuto
Starring	Frédéric van den Driessche Maroussia Dubreuil Lise Bellynck Marie Allan
Cinematography	Wilfrid Sempé
Edited by	María Luisa García
Music by	Jean Musy
Production companies	La Sorcière Rouge TS Productions
Distributed by	Rézo Films
Release dates	20 May 2006 (2006-05-20) (Cannes) 13 September 2006 (2006-09-13) (France)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	France
Language	French
Box office	$154,210^[1]

The Exterminating Angels (French: Les Anges exterminateurs) is a 2006 French erotic drama film written and directed by Jean-Claude Brisseau. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 2006 and received a limited release in the United States on 7 March 2007. The film is about a director named François who embarks on a film project about female eroticism. He meets three struggling actresses who perform sexual acts in front of him. What François does not realise is that there is a lot more going on in the girls' heads than other parts and this leads to tragic consequences.

The film is semi-autobiographical; in 2002, director Brisseau had been arrested on charges of harassment, fined and given a suspended one-year prison sentence. The plaintiffs were three women who had performed sexual acts in front of him during their audition.^[2]

The soundtrack for the film was composed by Jean Musy.

Cast

Frédéric van den Driessche as François
Maroussia Dubreuil as Charlotte
Lise Bellynck as Julie
Marie Allan as Stéphanie
Raphaële Godin as Apparition 1 / Rebecca
Margaret Zenou as Apparition 2
Sophie Bonnet as Nathalie
Jeanne Cellard as the grandmother
Virginie Legeay as Virginie
Estelle Galarme as Olivia
Marine Danaux as Agnès
Apolline Louis as Céline
François Négret as Stéphanie's friend

Production

On 31 October 2007, two actresses, one of whom stars in The Exterminating Angels, accused Brisseau of rape, sexual assault and harassment for a period from August 2005 to September 2007. Allan, then aged 29, accused the director of having abused her during erotic "castings", carried out face to face and without a camera, in public places or at Brisseau's home. According to her, Brisseau would have promised a leading role in one of his films and asked for that to work these intimate scenes. The same accusations came from another actress, then aged 21, who said she suffered a "digital" rape by the filmmaker. Brisseau only admitted to having had a consensual sexual relationship with the first actress. A judicial investigation was opened, the man was heard as an assisted witness, but the procedure was abandoned for lack of evidence to establish "non-consent".^[3]

References

^ "The Exterminating Angels (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
^ Burr, Ty (16 March 2007). "As eroticism, 'Angels' doesn't fly". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
^ Agence France-Presse. "Jean-Claude Brisseau, soupçonné de viols, a été entendu comme "témoin assisté"". Libération (in French). Retrieved 13 February 2022.