Crustacés et coquillages

Adolescence is a difficult age. Everyone knows that. But is it mainly problematic because teenagers rebel against their parents? Or is it the sexual awakening which makes progenitors uneasy? "Crustacés & Coquillages" revisits these questions in a story about love, self-discovery and vacations.

A family owns a beach house in the Cote D'Azur so they decide to spend the summer there. As they arrive, their son Charly receives the visit of his best friend Martin. As the days go by, Beatrix, Charly's mother, comes to a conclusion: the two kids are gay and are currently a couple. However Marc, the father, angrily refuses to accept this possibility.

Why is Charly's father such a paramount character here? Because the name of the father is the only thing that prevents a boy from turning gay. When Jacques Lacan defined the meaning of the 'nom de père' he relied on a French word game. The 'nom de père' is the name of the father but is also the No of the father. According to Lacanian theory it doesn't matter if a child is raised without fatherly figures as long as the mother invokes the name of the father, which ultimately is the origin of the tribal law, the social indictment; and it is so because the name of the father is also the definitive negative. When the child asks 'why not' the father can always answer 'because'. As tautological as it may sound, is the father who attributes himself the final word. And when there is no father then the mother must reenact this dynamic by conferring upon her the authority derived from the father. More traditional psychoanalysis would suggest that a child raised without a father could be prone to feminization (isn't it a common place to say that gays act like women?); Lacan proposes that as long as the 'nom de père' is imprinted upon the mind of the child then the risk of becoming homosexual would be thus ruled out.

But what happens when it is precisely that risk what worries Marc the most? Beatrix seems perfectly fine with having a gay son, while Marc is about to lose his temper. What they completely ignore is that Charly is, in fact, straight, although his friend Martin is gay. Certainly, this doesn't seclude the youngsters from behaving oddly at times. For instance, when Charly announces to his friend that he is going to masturbate in the shower, the viewer sees Martin unbuttoning his short and placing his hand down his underwear. Is it enticing for Martin to imagine what his friend is doing in the shower? Can he come to an orgasm while picturing his best friend? Certainly, the best alternative is to stop cold turkey, which is what Martin does. This moment mirrors a previous scene in which Charly gets caught by his mother. As one can easily comprehend, masturbation is always interrupted. Perhaps, as Michel Foucault wrote in in Histoire de la Sexualité, puritan minds can barely stand the idea of masturbation, but the possibility of fantasizing to fuel masturbatory acts is even more despicable. And that's exactly what masturbation is all about. As Foucault explained, masturbation is not possible without fantasy. Fantasy must be there, either in the form of a sexualized other or in any other way that could be sexually stimulant. To put it simply, one does not wildly masturbate reading the phone book.

Charly is a bit shy and his lack of success with girls get him frustrated at times. It is then when he suggests a "jerking-off" contest with Martin and they quarrel about it. Perhaps in the heterosexual mindset, such games or practices would be deprived of any further meaning, nevertheless what is clear to the viewer is that Martin has no intentions of jeopardizing this friendship by indulging in mutual sexual stimulation. It's clear that an unresolved sexual tension erects a barrier among the two boys, to the point that Charly asks Martin bluntly if he thinks of him while masturbating.

But one cannot cover this topic enough. As Martin successfully finishes pleasuring himself in the shower, he is accidentally observed by Marc, who immediately recurs to his wife to have sex with an energy that had apparently disappeared over the course of the years. After going cruising, Martin is beset and out of confusion tries to hit Marc. Marc, as a good father, calms him down and they both end up sleeping in the same bed. The morning after, Marc wakes up, goes into the shower and starts stroking his penis vigorously. What is the meaning of all this? What does Marc represent truly as a fatherly figure? More importantly if, according to psychoanalytic theory, Marc is in a sexually confused state of mind, can he still function as the fatherly figure? Perhaps one might wonder then, what it is that Charly rebels against? It has been made clear by Freud that every son must kill his father to have carnal commerce with the mother (this is all symbolic, of course), but what would occur if the father cannot represent a rivalry for the love of the mother? What then? Charly's Oedipus complex is not at as easy as one could have ventured at first. We are not in front of a typical teenager fending off in a "normal" family. Why, here even Beatrix has her own secrets.

One thing is worth noting, though, like every other teen, Charly must first figure out what it is he wants, and for that he must redefine his relationships with the rest of the world, namely, with his father and his best friend. Without spoiling the end I can only say that in the same way fantasy is indispensable for masturbation, fantasy will also be the key to come up with a suitable solution for everyone.

Poring throughout all IMDb it's quite frequent to find that's what most Hollywood-trained moviegoers think.

I hope this film, as many others in the new French cinema will make them change their opinion.

Crustacés et Coquillages is one of the wittiest comedies around. The script is absolutely unpredictable, with so many funny notes to every "serious" content, that will keep you laughing to it's completely nuts ending. Shot and played beautifully during summertime in Côte d'Azur, this film puts you in a roller-coaster ride of reality, insanity and very serious affairs without ever being annoying or insulting.

The roles are carefully cherry-picked for every character. I wouldn't like to say what many others have already said (telling what the film is about) but to tell you that the meat of this film are the topics of today's real life. Topics that should be encouraged to talk about before things get too complicated with our children. Topics that are simply taken for granted when they shouldn't. As someone else already pointed out, this is a French film with all the possible "frenchness" in it, but, amazingly, taking things on the light side.

Finally, I'd suggest to watch closely the film-making process. Its cinematography, too, is very French and, as such, outstanding, without enormous resources. The cast is perfect: they portray exactly what they are and, then, it turns out to be exactly the opposite! Locations and dim-light situations are pushed to the limits, again, strapping resources. All in all a good film that lingers in the back of your mind longer than you'd think... as its music will surely do, too.

Just plain fun. This French semi-farce lends a fresh Mediterranean breeze to the gay film genre. Sexuality issues are discussed with tongue-in-cheek simplicity. Tolerance vs. intolerance. Yet the complexity of human sexual desires is well illustrated in colorful situations and funny plot twists. I believe the French can do a movie like this one well, while Americans would simply fall into a deep trench of camp. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who plays the mother of the central family, plays a real character with depth and range of feeling, despite her periodic flights into goofy simplicity. Gilbert Melki, who plays the father, handles his layered character well, with minor camp slippage along the way. American audiences might have some discomfort with age issues in the film, but that has more to do with American ageism and Puritanism than any flaw in this film. Jean-Marc Barr puts in a good performance as the ultimate dream butch daddy, French style. Fun, lite and yet worthwhile. Old Europe still has much to teach Americans about making movies.

Nice, french and seductive. Story of holiday, spiced and musical, a comedy about relations and escapes, sentimental adventure and erotic games, teenage problems, appearances and reality. Only a joke, in fact. But the essence is more than spam. Errors and feelings in a strange circle. A mirror with many faces, belly for faces and gestures. Trip to happiness and slices of "A midsummer night's dream". Map of ordinary existence, uncomplicated and naive, honest and dramatic,fresco of a marriage an a critically age, of natural abdication and final happiness, a fable about moral, sex and homosexuality. Basic ingredients and pretty songs. Aplauses and curtain.

Some sauce is going on, and gay going on. Is girly haired son Charly a? No, turns out his dad is.

"Its nice being bored on holiday" says Mother to Charly. No it isn't. You've got to be up to something. Have your skinny balding lover arriving for some shagging on the rocks; he keeps his flat cap on.

More jerking off in the shower (friend Martin) Dad is getting stiffies watching and imagining.

More jerking off in the shower (Dad now) It's a beautiful world this Cote D' Azur if you lay back, and do who or whatever you want.

Occasional "step outside the frame" song and dance routines occur to inflate light-hearted larkiness but come across as looking ludicrous.

"Silly soufflé of seaside shenanigans, sexy secrets, and jerking off in the shower" would be my strap line.

I learnt that sea violets are a soft shellfish.

I'm scratching my head why BBC4 showed this.