Years ago when I first saw this French production I felt it had a European sensibility transplanted to the American Mid-West.
Others have pointed out how it hardly captures any real vibe for rural Illinois. That aside, the story seems to have come first and then a location found. It could almost have taken place in some closed off 16th Century village, but the film seems influenced by other factors. In the over-heated plot, can one detect an in-joke?
The director, French/American Jean-Marc Barr, also plays Lyle who lives with his devout wife Amy (Rosanna Arquette). We learn she lost the love her life years before, and the only way she can stay faithful to his memory is through grief; her new husband is denied his conjugal rights. She is also fearful of the abnormal dimensions of Lyle's member, which gives the movie its title.
Vernon (Ian Vogt), an old childhood friend, returns to town with a French mistress, Juliette (Elodie Bouchez). Lyle knows that Vernon is deeply closeted and solves both Juliette's and his frustrations by heading off to the cornfield together. From then on clothes are shed frequently. Lyle also encourages Juliette to fulfil a young friend's wish to lose his virginity. When the openness of these relationships becomes known, the townspeople turn nasty; some large-girthed boys come a-hunting in their pickups.
Barr was a member of the Dogme 95 filmmaking movement started by Lars von Trier, which aimed to bypass the big budgets and control of the major film companies.
However the films had to be made to a strict set of rules. The film had to take place in the present. Shooting must be done on location with the required props to be found there. The camera should be hand-held with no special lighting.
There was also a rule that the film must not contain superficial action such as murders, weapons, etc. (which may explain why the boys at the end of Barr's movie don't reach for the gun-racks).
There were others, perhaps missing was one that stated the film should also be entertaining.
Barr didn't follow the manifesto to the letter, but its spirit was there. Maybe it was his peers he was out to impress, and they may have been amused at him playing the guy with "Too Much Flesh".
Others have pointed out how it hardly captures any real vibe for rural Illinois. That aside, the story seems to have come first and then a location found. It could almost have taken place in some closed off 16th Century village, but the film seems influenced by other factors. In the over-heated plot, can one detect an in-joke?
The director, French/American Jean-Marc Barr, also plays Lyle who lives with his devout wife Amy (Rosanna Arquette). We learn she lost the love her life years before, and the only way she can stay faithful to his memory is through grief; her new husband is denied his conjugal rights. She is also fearful of the abnormal dimensions of Lyle's member, which gives the movie its title.
Vernon (Ian Vogt), an old childhood friend, returns to town with a French mistress, Juliette (Elodie Bouchez). Lyle knows that Vernon is deeply closeted and solves both Juliette's and his frustrations by heading off to the cornfield together. From then on clothes are shed frequently. Lyle also encourages Juliette to fulfil a young friend's wish to lose his virginity. When the openness of these relationships becomes known, the townspeople turn nasty; some large-girthed boys come a-hunting in their pickups.
Barr was a member of the Dogme 95 filmmaking movement started by Lars von Trier, which aimed to bypass the big budgets and control of the major film companies.
However the films had to be made to a strict set of rules. The film had to take place in the present. Shooting must be done on location with the required props to be found there. The camera should be hand-held with no special lighting.
There was also a rule that the film must not contain superficial action such as murders, weapons, etc. (which may explain why the boys at the end of Barr's movie don't reach for the gun-racks).
There were others, perhaps missing was one that stated the film should also be entertaining.
Barr didn't follow the manifesto to the letter, but its spirit was there. Maybe it was his peers he was out to impress, and they may have been amused at him playing the guy with "Too Much Flesh".