Abstract
This article explores the concept of a female gaze in so-called ‘hard core’ erotica, focussing on the recent erotic film, Romance (1999), written and directed by Catherine Breillat. Though given limited public release, Romance contains explicit sex scenes, including fellatio and cunnilingus, and may therefore be said to contain elements of ‘hard core’ cinema. The film depicts a woman's quest for erotic fulfilment, but unlike most previous treatments of this popular theme of male-centred erotic cinema (Just Jaeckin's Emmanuelle, for example), the point of view represented in this female-authored film appears to be unambiguously feminine. This feminine point of view is represented mainly by a voice-over conveying the heroine's thoughts and emotions, which aids identification of the audience with her on psychological, emotional and sexual levels. In spite of this feminine point of view, however, Romance demonstrates the difficulties involved in the successful modelling of a female gaze.
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