Mélinda (Myriam Mézières, who would appear in Spermula the following year along with Udo Kier) is a trench coat and fedora-clad private eye who when isn’t unofficially cosplaying as a Film Noir character is balls deep (though not as much as some of the folks in this flick) into investigating just what in the hell politician Françoise Bourgeois’ (Hélène Surgère) adult son Alain (Jean-Christophe Bouvet) is doing getting it on in a porno loop.
To make matters worse, the person who turned Bourgeois on to her offspring’s film ventures is demanding a rather hefty sum to keep the footage permanently shelved… which she’s keen to do, what with it being election season and all…
Mélinda soon takes the plunge into the underbelly of French society and encounters all of the slap-happy goings on you may or may not imagine… but there are musical numbers and an attempted orgy murder so use that as a barometer for things.
Will Mélinda be able to stay the course and solve the case as things go from horny to homicidal?!
Under director/co-writer Paul Vecchiali, Don’t Change Hands is equal parts neo-noir and fuck flick (though there are softcore elements involved, hardcore sequences are featured as well… and often… I mean the film begins with a full-on BJ) which if handled incorrectly could make things disjointed at times pacing-wise… but the frequent sex present here moves the story along while being quite surreal, as the graphic slap and tickle is surrounded by a rather traditional detective yarn… although visually it’s “mid-’70s mod-as-fuck does it’s best impression of the 1940’s”…
And that narrative is about all that is traditional here as not only are we treated to group sex, drag numbers… hell, Howard Vernon shows up (though Franco is nowhere in sight)… but the real subversion occurs in the casting with Mézières and Surgère taking on traditionally male roles of your average, everyday Noir tale.
And while we are speaking about Mézières; she is both captivating and unforgettable in her role both visually, with her shock of scarlet hair and Bogart ensemble… and physically, as she alternates between tough-as-nails hero and recurrent sex participant with equal relish!
All of that off-kilter wonderfulness looks damn sexy here with a visual presentation full of striking color, deep shadows, and warm skin tones (a good thing considering how much of it you see in this flick). Plus the picture looks nine n’ clear (except where it is intentionally meant not to be… like in the porno that’s featured throughout, and damn if that doesn’t make that bit of the film appear even harsher than it is) on this Severin Blu-ray release.
Accompanying the film are a selection of special features which include: an appreciation of the film courtesy of director Yann Gonzalez (KNIFE+HEART), author Matthew Orléan providing an analysis of Vecchiali’s life, interviews with screenwriter Noël Simsolo, Mézières, and Bouvet, and a re-release trailer.
There is not much, if anything, out there quite like Don’t Change Hands… it’s definitely a hardcore affair, so your mileage may vary… but a gender-swapped, neo-Film Noir, porno should really be experienced by as many psychotronic film lovers as possible.
