| Mauvais Sang | |
| Director: | Leos Carax |
| Producer: | Denis Chateau Alain Dahan Philippe Diaz |
| Starring: | Michel Piccoli Juliette Binoche Denis Lavant |
| Music: | Benjamin Britten David Bowie Sergei Prokofiev |
| Cinematography: | Jean-Yves Escoffier |
| Editing: | Nelly Quettier |
| Distributor: | AAA Classics |
| Runtime: | 116 minutes |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
Mauvais Sang (in French pronounced as /movɛ sɑ̃/, Bad Blood), also known as The Night Is Young, is Leos Carax's second film. Released in 1986, the film played at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival[1] before being nominated for three César Awards and winning the Prix Louis-Delluc. The film sold 504,803 tickets in France.[2] The title refers to Arthur Rimbaud's eponymous poem in A Season in Hell.[3]
In the film, a sexually transmitted disease called STBO is sweeping the country; it spreads by sex without emotional involvement, and most of its victims are young people who have sex out of curiosity rather than commitment. A woman hires two men to steal the serum, which has been locked away in a pharmaceutical company's offices.
In the Paris of the not-too-distant future, a mysterious disease, STBO, is killing people who have sex without emotional involvement. A serum has been developed, but it is locked away out of the reach of those who need it. An American woman blackmails two aging crooks, Marc and Hans, into stealing it. Marc recruits Alex, a rebellious teenager whose father worked for him before his death. Alex has a girlfriend, Lise, but falls for Marc's lover, Anna.
Julie Delpy has said she came out of filming this movie traumatized: "It was a very difficult shoot. I had a motorcycle accident. In order to make the insurance work, I wasn't taken to the doctor right away. As a result, my leg became gangrenous—one more day and it was amputation. Moreover Leos Carax was not easy. The actress was not easy either."[4]
Christian Faure was the assistant director of the movie.
| Year | Association | Award category | Recipient | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Cahiers du Cinéma | Annual Top 10 Lists | Leos Carax | [5] | ||
| Prix Louis Delluc | Best Film | [6] | ||||
| 1987 | Berlin International Film Festival | Alfred Bauer Prize | ||||
| C.I.C.A.E Award | ||||||
| Golden Bear (Competition) | [7] | |||||
| César Awards | Best Actress | Juliette Binoche | ||||
| Best Promising Actress | Julie Delpy | |||||
| Best Cinematography | Jean-Yves Escoffier | |||||
| 1988 | Fantasporto | International Fantasy Film Special Jury Award | Leos Carax | [8] |