Eastern Boys

Around the Gare du Norde railway station groups of East European lads gather and seek opportunistic chances for an easy buck. Daniel Muller (Olivier Rabourdin 'Of Gods and Men') is a gay man who is attracted to one of them - he is not sure if they are for rent but approaches Marek and a date is arranged at Muller's apartment. Only when he answers the door he is not prepared for the visitor he gets.

That is the start and what develops goes way beyond what I was expecting. We have quite a few issues being explored here from migrant integration, crime, pay for sex and affairs of the heart. I was at times feeling uncomfortable, angry, concerned and even happy. The main thing is that it is always engaging.

Great performances from all the cast but Olivier Rabourdin was totally convincing and Krill Emelyanov as Marek as the confused yet caring Ukrainian was brilliant. This is for those who enjoy an intelligent gay themed film, but a lot of the issues here are very universal and as such I can highly recommend.

This film is not for the faint hearted - it's fairly full on - powerful and moving. The language bar is very low. Shot in French, English and Russian - you don't really need to know much of the other languages to understand it. It's tense and moody - especially the first half.

Strong performances from the leads and from main supporting actors.

Recommended

Most will be familiar with Campillo's work from the TV adaptation of his film The Returned, Eastern Boys shares many of the same qualities of the TV show; a poetic approach to actions that are usually bluntly handled in cinema. Somehow Campillo manages to seamlessly combine several paradoxical elements and genres and still create an elegant and complete film.

The opening scenes are enough to cement the atmosphere of the film, as you are introduced to the eastern boys of the title, hanging around in the Gare du Nord, but it takes an impressive amount of time before their occupation becomes clear, and even then the plot meanders in ways that you may not be expecting.

Olivier Raboudin and newcomer Kirill Emelyanov are exceptional in the central roles, but Daniil Vorobyev is a revelation as the scene stealing psychotic boss, a performance which easily matches Gary Oldman's Stanfield from Leon. These characters and all the supporting roles are skillfully captured with a minimal and subtle script, that highlights Campillo's peculiar and under appreciated talent to bring cold environments to life.

When a dozen young thugs thugs enter your apartment and ransack it, you would expect some resistance, some violence. But no, in this very French film, everything is very civilised, almost as if it were a social gathering, with the robbers dancing as they rob and the guy being robbed having a drink as we watches all his fancy possessions being lugged away. Though the film has a high degree of tension and pent up violence running through, it never actually manifests itself except in short bursts and in the (relatively) mild form of a boy being roughly shoved to the ground, having a foot placed on his face and then tied up. Which is why these small bits of violence are so impactful and lead to such explosive consequences in the story. This is a very unique film and I really enjoyed it.

I had no expectations going into this film. And the first few minutes made me doubt my choice. But as the slow narrative starts to develop, it sucked me in and kept me captivated until the very end.

A very realistic, raw image of illegal immigrants and a very sensitive story of deception, love and protection.

I won't spoil the story, but if you are not homophobic and if you like movies such as Stephen Frears's "Dirty Pretty Things", this is a great cinematic experience. Hopefully this movie will get a wide enough audience and recognition.

Go watch it with an open mind.