La strada di Felix

This movie was just what I needed. I found myself enjoying the adventures (and company) of Felix, anticipating the next extended family member he would meet. I was also touched by the music of the film. It's a shame that there wasn't a soundtrack produced. I did manage to track down a few of the artists and song titles for anyone who might have loved the songs also.

The music from the opening and closing credits were sung by Blossom Dearie. They are entitled "Tout Doucement" and "Plus Je t'embrasse" respectively. Several songs were by Arabic artist Cheb Mami (who recently colaborated with Sting on his latest album). Also, if you're interested there are some great 50's era songs out there by Patachou, the actress who played Mathilde (Grandmother) in the movie.

The jazzy opening-credits number (a beautiful Blossom Dearie tune) we hear as Felix glides across the screen on a bicycle perfectly sets the tone for this wonderfully clever and creative gay-themed film from France.

In so many gay films, the acceptance of homosexuality is the central struggle in the film - or the horrors of the dating scene, the devestation of being HIV positive etc. etc. etc. I really enjoyed the way these issues were handled in this film. Felix is gay and HIV-positive - that is established from the beginning - and the rest of the film is spent getting to know this man as he gets to know the people on his path to visit his estranged father.

Issues of race, age, monogamy, relationships, family, marriage, sexuality, homosexuality and HIV are presented in such a natural way that they do not become "issues" as in most other gay films, but only various parts of Felix's experiences that make life interesting. The characters in the film are refreshingly realistic; some have tempers, some are sometimes rude and they don't always say or do the right thing.

Overall, this is a beautiful, breezy film that has freed itself from the constricting influence of "gay culture" - a film that helps you realize that life really has very few limitations.

Felix, fresh out of a job, decides to leave his home and lover in northern France for a bit and travel to Marseilles and find the father he has never known. He makes his progress by any means available, from walking and hitchhiking to stealing (temporarily) an automobile. He is unwitting witness to a street crime and gets beaten up himself; he helps an art student do a drawing; and he helps an elderly lady with her bags of groceries. Both the art student and the lady provide Felix with temporary shelter before he moves on to other encounters, each such meeting being labeled as "grandmother" or "brother," and so on. Thus Felix acquires in essence the family he never had. An attractive young man of Arabian descent He charms everyone,

including a man who works for the railroad system. They fly a kite together and then have a merry sexual encounter in the bushes, for Felix is gay and HIV positive. But the viewer is reminded that this is safe sex when there is a brief disagreement over how to dispose of a used condom, a situation gracefully dealt with by the French creators of this really charming film, which moreover provides beautiful shots of different regions of France, from the shores of Dieppe in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south, with mountains and flower-filled meadows in between. This film was a continual and delightful surprise to me, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is not offended by the gay theme underlying all.

What a wonderful, charming movie that centers around the journeys of a gay man of Arabian descent as he travels from his home in Normandy to Marseilles.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, not only for its unbiased treatment of homosexuality, but also for the stunning scenic shots across France, which only added to the overall beauty and enjoyment of the film.

Wonderful all the way around.

"Drole de Felix" ends up being a road-trip fable that charms you with it's cast of delightful characters, a charismatic performance by Sami Bouajila as Felix, and the beautiful & striking scenery of France. The tale of a man in search of "family" (and finding that those relationships are a process, not a destination), it's a delightful movie, full of French sensibilities and moments of simple truths.