Gay & Gallic

François Ozon’s “New Girlfriend” Plus 11 More Hot Queer Scenes From The Director’s Best Films

In gay and French director François Ozon’s new The New Girlfriend (watch the clip exclusive to Queerty above), adorable Romain Duris plays a guy whose wife has died recently. Her best friend, Claire (Anais Demoustier), reaches out to comfort him, only to discover that David has a dark secret in his pants: women’s panties.

Ozon likes his movies snappy, suspenseful and sexually charged, and usually blown up with a string-snapping score by longtime collaborator Philippe Rombi. It’s as if George Cukor, Rainer Fassbinder and Alfred Hitchcock walked into a bar, and it was in Paris.

Not all of Ozon’s films are overtly gay-themed, but the 47 year-old manages to work in at least one someone to drool at most of the time. Following, some pics like that in the form of a brief and illustrated filmography.

The New Girlfriend opens Friday.

1. Sitcom (1998)
sitcom 1

Ozon’s first full-length was a family farce with this guy in leather among other topless males.

2. Criminal Lovers (1999)
criminal lovers 1

French-Algerian Salim Kechiouche is a dreamy motif in Ozon’s ode to Natural Born Killers.

criminal lovers 2

3. Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000)
Water-Drops-on-Burning-Rocks-2000

Ozon adapted Fassbinder’s chamber play for the screen with young-for-old Malik Zidi and Bernard Giraudeau.

4. 8 Women (2002)
B0206021-4C

It’s hard to take your eyes off Catherine Deneuve in dark musical comedy 8 Women, even if there was something else to look at besides Isabelle Huppert, Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, Danielle Darrieux, Virginie Ledoyen, Ludivine Sagnier and Firmine Richard.

5. Swimming Pool (2003)
swimming pool

An erotic thriller, set in the south of France with a smallish penis.

swimming-pool-05

swimming-pool-06

6. 5×2 (2004)
5x2

Maybe this is about the guy in Swimming Pool, or it’s about a still-horny but unhappily married straight couple and featuring a gay twosome to highlight the breeders’ unhappiness because all the gay couples are happy — look at them dance.

7. Time to Leave (2005)
time to leave 3

A VGL fashion photographer (Melvil Poupaud) learns he has terminal cancer and and makes the most of his time left: beach, boys, couples and cigarettes.

time to go

LE TEMPS QUI RESTE, (aka TIME TO LEAVE), Melvil Poupaud, Walter Pagano, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, 2005. ©Strand Releasing

time to leave 1

8. Hideaway (2009)
hideaway 1

You’re hidden away with this heroin junkie and a dead lover’s gay brother.

9. Potiche (2010)

Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve) and Robert Pujol (Fabrice Luchini)

Ozon reunites with Deneuve for a meditation on mid-’70s French bourgeoisie. Here it’s the art direction and Deneuve competing for eyeballs; both win.

10. In the House (2012)
in the house

Hitchcock-y In the House has lycéen Fabrice Luchini insinuating himself into his best friend’s family and mom, specifically, plus other mixed sexual signals.

11. Young & Beautiful (2013)
young and beautiful
Stunning Marine Vacth, here with Ozon, is Young & Beautiful but when she has sex with handsome Laurent Delbecque, she’s like, eh, and turns into a high-end prostitute. Deneuve did it in Belle du Jour, too.

young and beautiful 2

12. The New Girlfriend (2014)
new girlfriend 1

Ozon gives us something more to watch when Duris is doing the dress: David’s new girlfriend that’s also a new girlfriend’s husband, Raphaël Personnaz. Basically everybody’s doing everybody.

new girlfriend 2

13. Franz (2016)
franz

We don’t know if Pierre Niney was playing a guy named Franz for this French GQ shoot in 2014, but that’s whom he’s playing in Ozon’s next, now filming. Wear a trench.

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated