L'amour au temps de la guerre civile

I knew this would be a rough and brutal ride as soon as I saw that it was filmed on the streets of Montreal... in the dead of winter. Brilliant choice by the director to film this while the streets are covered with ice and snow is making the plights of the junkies so much harder... The critics who call this "ugly" are incapable of seeing the strange beauty in ugliness and the raw innocence of these apparently jaded individuals who inhabit this world.. Those looking for a linear "story" will be lost with this film, which is more a glimpse into the world of addiction. Much like addiction there is no structure, just "score, get high, get sick, hustle up cash, score, get high, repeat...." The main character of the movie, Alex was someone who, in real life I would have wanted to help, or at least show some much needed "Humanity..." Also this isn't really a "gay themed" film but rather a film about people who lack boundaries, who search out any kind of pleasure that will make them forget the pain and reality of their lives.. The sex is raw, animalistic, desperate and cruel... And that is exactly what a film about addiction should be :if you are getting good vibes or feelings of optimism from a film like this then the movie has failed at its goal to show reality.. As drug movies go "Love In the Time of Civil War" is one of the strongest of its genre, however it still does not reach the nightmarish Hellscape of the Czech masterpiece of drug addiction in the world of male prostitutes, "Mandragora" which is even more harrowing...

No doubt that repetition bit might be one of the things the movie tries to hit home. It doesn't make for an interesting movie though. After a while, I found I had to use my media player to speed up the "action". Tracking shots going on for minutes on end with somebody just walking and walking. Towards the end I was actually watching at 8x and 16x speed and could follow what was going on, if "going on" is the correct term. Nothing of value here, for me anyway. Simply no story, or, at the very best, the bare bones of one. It amazes me that they thought 120 minutes of this was a good idea. Pass.

This film mercilessly delivers an authentic depiction of a particular brand of hysteria, a day in day out procession of drug addicted, sex obsessed behaviors. One is confronted with a reality that is very rarely perceived with such shocking plausibility. Before viewing, I had no idea that life could deploy in such a manner. This film opens a door to a subculture terrifying to discover .. this is what really goes on. Hard to witness. Many would rather not know; if only this door had never been opened.

Alex is a drug addict who sells his body for the cash to carry on his addiction. His life seems to centre around giving or having pleasure but the periods in between are anything but enchanting. He has a coterie of friends or probably associates who are all equally caught in a seemingly never ending spiral of self destruction. Like holding the tiger's tail – they are destined to never get off.

The film follows their lives and the highs (very few) and the lows (too many) of how they eek out a survival in a Canadian winter. It is hard hitting and graphic with scenes of drug taking and preparation peppered throughout. There is also simulated sex and it is not the stuff that could be classed as 'tasteful'.

This is not an easy watch either and I felt that some of the scenes could have ended sooner, but this was probably an artistic choice by the director to emphasise the emptiness of what the protagonists are actually doing. This is a gay themed film too in that Alex is gay but it is quite universal in the themes it addresses. At 120 minutes and in French this is one for the not so squeamish and for those who like their films to be challenging.

Here is a truly interesting story about struggles of addiction and finding ways to support drug habits. What a disaster the cinematography was! Whoever's decision it was to film the majority of this film in the dark did a terrible disservice to the movies plot/message and to the viewer. If this is what the director has to offer he/she should give up film making. Most of the time I was so busy trying to figure out the setting that I was distracted from the story.