laduqesa

I didn't like this at all and wasn't beguiled by it. Bizarrely it started off like many of the porn films from the CiteBeur stable - guy happens to be in a completely random, abandoned, rough place and the partner comes across him as if by chance and the action starts.

Except that there isn't any action. This was so slow I almost yawned.

I didn't find the characters interesting or attractive. Indeed, if I'd been asked to play hide and seek for the sake of a hook-up I wouldn't have gone looking, I'd have gone home instead. The whole thing was so contrived.

It's a good job I didn't take up the offer of one of the actors to leave comments on what I felt about the film. It wouldn't have been kind.

I wasn't sure I'd like this but rapidly got into it. The three main actors were personable, attractive and interesting. Bizarrely, Night and Pablo were giving off gay vibes as soon as they met - or was it my gaydar? I was sure that they would get it on together (not a spoiler - IMDb mentions this in the summary) and I'm glad I hadn't read that plot outline beforehand.

The supporting characters were strong - the gang members really looked like disaffected youth from the cité. And the plot revolving around drug dealing was true to life showing the strict demarcation of areas belonging to rival groups.

The film also showed that yobs have a softer side - Louis understood and loved his father and Ange, capable of the most terrible crimes, seemed enthusiastic in his scene with dad. Of course, this love could lead to the most awful consequences and did.

As for the gaming, I have no idea if the fantasy sequences looked like a real game or not - I have never played.

This was a self-contained story that didn't flag at all. Definitely recommended.

I struggled through to the end so it's going to get four stars. However, there was no real tension, no feeling in me that I needed to know what was going to happen next. As this series was under the Arte imprimatur, I had expected more.

Situations seemed artificial and forced. Simon's hiring at the docks was just not credible given his easily-guessed motivations. That he wormed his way in so easily just didn't make sense. And he would never have got away with an affair with the wife of an imprisoned Maghrebi hoodlum from day one - the ghetto would have been onto it immediately.

I draw a veil over the utter ridiculousness of the final minute of the series. I just don't know why that was tacked on. I have no idea why the cops weren't present either.

So not really recommended; it was actually hard work.