It’s 1928 in Paris, and a curious circus has arrived in the City of Light. Days-of-yore circus acts like the super-strong man, a ventriloquist, high divers, knife throwers, and clairvoyants fill this traveling circus, which has arrived in Paris. Among the bizarre acts is “Venus électrique,” the electric woman who has lightning bolts shooting out of her fingers and offers – “for a mere 30 centimes!” – a life-changing “electric kiss.”   Director Pierre Salvadori’s La Vénus électrique (in English, The Electric Kiss) is a romantic comedy that opened the 79th Cannes Film Festival. Although the film is not in competition at Cannes, the screening was attended by the entire Cannes jury and its president, Park Chan-wook, as it was the festival’s first screening. The glamorous jurors, who include Ruth Negga, Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgård, Chloé Zhao, and more, walked le tapis rouge (the red carpet) as they entered the grand théâtre Lumière, followed by the cast of La Vénus électrique.   Pierre Salvadori’s La Vénus électrique. courtesy of the Cannes press office In the film, the circus compère tells the growing crowd, “Love is pain! Love is ecstasy! Let the thrill of love pass through you.” Suzanne (Anaïs Demoustier) is the “electric woman” who, for 30 cents, gives an electric kiss to paying customers as she is effectively electrocuted every day for her job as a circus act. “This is Paris – people want to see something new!” the compère says to her before she assumes her place onstage.   Life is hard and expensive for Suzanne. The compère fines and charges her for everything. She has to pay him lateness fines (for arriving late), she barely makes any money for being manhandled and electrocuted, and she spends each night soaking her feet. She is not far off from being an indentured servant (one who wears a fabulous bejeweled red cape with a fur collar, but still). She smokes cigarettes relentlessly, often looks forlorn, and seems to have lost her spark. The fairgrounds are not far from the Paris monument Sacré-Cœur, which can be spotted in the distance. (The film was shot in the Paris region and in the Chartreuse park in Liège, Belgium.)   When an out-of-work painter and grieving widower named Antoine (Pio Marmaï) stumbles drunkenly into the clairvoyant Claudia’s tent, where Suzanne happens to be, he assumes she is the medium. He is desperate to communicate with his deceased wife, Irène. Suzanne seizes the moment; she’s desperate, too – but for money and sustenance. She tells Antoine to close his eyes as she pretends to channel his late wife. All the while, handily nicking his wallet from his trousers. She assumes, rightly so, that she will never see him again. He calls her Claudia when he leaves, still thinking he’s speaking to the medium whose name – Claudia––is scrawled in huge letters across the outside of the tent.   Antoine begs to come back tomorrow so he can commune once more with his wife in the spiritual realm. Suzanne says no, but he insists. Fearing he will return the next day and find the real Claudia, not her, she tells him she will come to him. In his home.    Pierre Salvadori’s La Vénus électrique. courtesy of the Cannes press office