A recurrent theme in Houellebecq’s novels is the intrusion of free-market economics into human relationships and sexuality. Extension du domaine de la lutte (“extension of the domain of the struggle”) alludes to economic competition extending into the search for relationships. As the book says, a free market has winners and losers, and the same applies to relationships in a society that does not enforce monogamy. Westerners of both sexes already seek exotic locations and climates by visiting developing countries in organized trips. In Plateforme, the logical conclusion is that they would respond positively to sex tourism organized and sold in a corporate and professional fashion.
Houellebecq is not without film-making credentials. He gained a diploma in cinematography from the Ecole Louis-Lumière in Paris in 1981, and has directed three shorts, including an erotic short, La Rivière, in 2001. “I framed a lot of the shots myself [on The Possibility of an Island],” Houellebecq told Les Inrockuptibles magazine. “Better to do it yourself than ask someone else. But I do find it difficult to concentrate at the same time on the actors and on something when it’s moving, so I didn’t frame the moving shots.”
Director:Michel Houellebecq
Writer:Michel Houellebecq (writer)
Short 16 min.
Cast (Credited cast)
Laetitia Clément
Cielle Delhomme
Audrey Jouffain
Annabelle Brun
Naïma Abdalahoui
Story: Its the French intellectual Houellebecq bringing
naked women enjoying sex and nature.
