Eva Clement La Poupee Du Vice < 2025 >

Eva believes that perfection is a lie. She seeks out the “poupée du vice”—the one doll manufactured with a hidden crack, a reversed gear, a tear painted under its glass eye. As she descends into madness, she begins to induce these flaws into living people, treating her neighbors and lovers as reparable (or breakable) dolls. 1. Porcelain as a Metaphor for the Self The film posits that every human being is a doll manufactured by society, complete with painted-on smiles and synthetic hair. Eva’s “vice” is the quest for authenticity through damage. She famously whispers to a client, “Une fissure n’est pas une erreur; c’est la seule preuve que vous avez été touchée.” (A crack is not a mistake; it is the only proof you have been touched.)

The director’s identity remains a mystery, leading to decades of debate. Is it a lost feminist screed against objectification? A giallo-inspired slasher? Or a genuine artifact from a Parisian psychiatric ward, used as art therapy? The grainy 16mm texture and the lack of a score (save for the sound of clicking porcelain joints and dripping wax) lend it the weight of a recovered memory. Critical Reception (Then & Now) Then (1974): Banned in Lyon. Called “unwatchable” by Cahiers du Cinéma . One critic wrote: “Eva Clément is not a character. She is a taxidermist of the soul. This film should be buried.” Eva Clement La Poupee Du Vice

★★★★☆ (4/5 – Devastating, slow, and unforgettable. Bring a friend. And a safe word. ) Where to (theoretically) find it: A 4K restoration screens at the Cinémathèque Française on October 31st. No home video release exists—reportedly because Eva herself keeps breaking the masters. Eva believes that perfection is a lie