A HARSH, HARD-HANDED, AND SAVING CHRONICLE OF A FORBIDDEN ROMANCE IN THE FACE OF CROSSFIRE.
To talk about this medium-length film is to talk about a one-of-a-kind production. It's speaking in capital letters. It's something that stays in your mind, and in a good way.
While we have the already well-addressed plot of teenage romances, here you won't find a dramatic melodrama (excuse the redundancy) nor a film with stereotypes and clichés already known in independent cinema worldwide. You've been warned because the proposal of its director, the then-novice Oliver Lallart, is not easy to digest.
The performances were sublime. Especially the lead, the newcomer Paul Gomireiux. A fantastic way of portraying his character, in a superb way! It reminded me a lot of the Latin American soap operas of the 2000s, so popular here in Latin America. His dedication to the character was unique and unrepeatable. I think he was the one who took the medium-length film to a higher level than it already had, because his script is as sharp as a knife and makes few, if any, concessions.
Although it seems to have been taken from a feature film (due to the nature of time), he paved the way for his characters to break away from any script or "how-to-act" manual. This is because, behind the scenes, it was revealed that the protagonist, in a crucial scene in the film, experienced something known as a "natural scene" or "natural acting." It was so intense that it was faithfully captured. You really see that scene and realize that Goumereiux gave everything (or almost everything) to the staging. And that's a lot to appreciate from this guy, proving that a great performance can make a difference even if the film doesn't have a huge budget, like Hollywood.
What complaint could there be about something so good? Well, its length. You reach a point where you realize that its length is playing a trick on it. But it's a tiny bit of a stretch when you see the final result: a masterful work about the collapse of myths/stigmas and prejudices in a society around the world, which applauds the unheard of but rebukes what they consider incorrect. Hypocritically, as always.
Anyway, we have this French gem, which I hope will have a wider exposure in the future. Because it deserves it. Everything here was almost perfect, but while there were classic errors due to tight budgets, the cinematography, direction, acting, and production do their job perfectly. And they don't hold back in showing (with what they have) a wonderful work, in a modern time, even if some may not like the director's risky and intrepid approach. But the thing is, in France, things are done differently than on this side of the pond. Always have been. For better or worse.
The title of my review is taken from the song "Nuestro Romance" by Victorio Vergara.
