Here at Loverboy we’ve been pretty stressed out of late and found ourselves reaching for guilty cinematic pleasures like The Avengers, Death Becomes Her and Final Analysis. But when we heard about this new arthouse European movie with an M83 soundtrack, Eric Cantona’s penis and the goddess that is Beatrice Dalle we need a closer look.
The movie was You And The Night and the results were sickening. Director Yann Gonzalez brought all kinds of craziness to the screen before talking us through the film and telling us about that penis.

What sort of films inspired You and the Night?
Mostly genre or underground European films from the 70s and the 80s (my favourite era of cinema): films by Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Alain Robbe-Grillet… Daughters of Darkness with Delphine Seyrig, Zoo Zéro with the amazing Catherine Jourdan. But also some experimental masterpieces like Meshes of the afternoon by Maya Deren. And some US popular movies like The Breakfast Club by John Hughes or The Watcher in the woods by John Hough. But I didn’t think about all this mish-mash of references when I started to write: I only had my characters and their emotions in mind. Then I started to look for some colours and outfits for them: that’s where I dug into my own movie buff’s memories.

Did you and your brother ever disagree on anything?
Yes, we disagreed on the use of the flute for one of the main theme of the film. He thought it was too cheesy, but I really insisted and now we’re both super happy with it. The most difficult theme to create was The Star’s. Probably because it needed to sound like a track from the past with a “je-ne-sais-quoi” from today, like a strange remix of a soundtrack by François de Roubaix (a genius French composer who died in his thirties).

What was Eric Cantona’s first reaction when you told him he’d have to pull out a prosthetic penis?
I guess he was relieved because he’s a very shy person and I’m not sure he would have accepted to show his own. Anyway I never dared to ask him. Maybe I should have: after the shooting, he kept repeating that we had to use a prosthetic penis because his cock was way too big –even for a character like The Stud!

Which character do you relate to the most?
I’m every character in the film (at least in my fantasies). I wish I were as hung as The Stud though. And as young as The Teen.

What one thing would you like viewers to take away from watching You and the Night?
I’d like them to believe that there’s still a hope of creating a deep and beautiful human connection with a perfect stranger. Like if a hook-up on Grindr could lead to a full night of mysteries and romanticism: I know it’s a dream, but cinema is the perfect place to make it happen.

YOU AND THE NIGHT is out now from Peccadillo Pictures On-Demand and on 1 disk standard edition DVD and 2 disk numbered limited edition featuring M83 audio CD.