Les amis

It takes a while to figure out what's going on here: Though of humble background and no obvious prospects, young aspiring actor Paul is taken to a first-class seaside resort that's obviously a playground for the rich-everyone there rides horses and plays tennis, two things well outside his experience. Paul lets others accept that he belongs there, even fibbing about his circumstances a bit, particularly to win beautiful child of privilege Marie-Laure. (Though when he confesses his love to her, she is thoroughly bored by it; later she sleeps with him, yet remains exasperatingly fickle.)

But the only reason Paul is here is because he's being kept by his "godfather" Philippe, a middle-aged industrialist trapped in a loveless marriage just a Paul has been trapped by his loveless, broken family background. Cooly dispassionate, and so discreet that we almost never see any signs of physical involvement between Paul and Philippe, this is an interesting drama of unspoken yearnings and aching voids, particularly once Philippe-who's hardly the possessive type-realizes he's little more than an obstacle to the associations with peers that Paul is really attracted to. Nonetheless, the white lies Paul is building his new relationships are doomed to end them eventually; the boundaries of class may be invisible, but they are strong.

It's a low-key film that makes no judgment of its characters, and somewhat refreshingly, they aren't particularly judgmental of each other, either. The pathos in it comes ultimately from Paul's seduction into a world populated by people who can afford to take nothing seriously, and building up expectations that they're bound to disappoint without realizing what it means to him-because they have almost infinite options, and he has very few. (Yet even this is qualified by the fact that Paul does acquire one true friend here, in the art student Nicolas.)

Though we never see them so much as kiss, his relationship with Philippe is very poignant in the end, because whatever else there is of a transactional sexual nature between them, the older man is also the only person here who manifests any genuine, parental concern for Paul's feelings. The film doesn't glamorize their dynamic unnecessarily-it's clearly dependent on Philippe's wealth-but it's still touching that no matter what originally brought them together, the characters are finally bond more by real mutual caring than exploitation. That makes the film's abrupt denouement quite devastating.

It's kind of amazing that "Les amis" doesn't have a higher profile in the history of gay cinema. Even though the two main characters probably wouldn't define themselves as gay, and their lives are more complex than that label anyway, it's still a remarkably strong and positive portrait at a point when any gay content in movies was still typically caricatured, negative, comedic and/or sensationalized.

(P.S. Disregard the bizarre IMBD plot description of the protagonist as "flayed alive." Maybe that's a turn of phrase in another language that has some flippant meaning and doesn't work in translation--in any case, it suggests something lurid that has absolutely no basis in the character's psychology or physical being. An apt alternative would be something infinitely milder like "insecure.")

I was myself surprised to watch and love this movie, although the way of filming and camera shots, angles and story telling, are maybe too much "new wave" for me. Today, the same story, the very same story, would have been shown differently. In short, it is purely late sixties, early seventies, but so delicate, so touching. The scene where Philippe watches his god son sleep, with the camera insisting of Philippe's eyes, is so brilliant, so intense, it thrilled me to the bone. Only for this reason I will keep this feature. I can understand that some audiences see this film as a sort of homosexual, gay oriented movie, but you can also interpret it in a different way. Simple a friendship tale, different from the other ones, and not necessarily gay...Anyway Gérard Blain himself was at least bisexual...I guess his other films as a director must be worth watching.

I can't emotionally connect with most old French movies.

When I was young, I admired Robert Bresson, I thought his detached and expressionless style was something revolutionary. But now I find it just boring and trite.

Paul loves Phillippe, but he doesn't show it. People speak of deep emotions as if they were ordering coffee at the bakery.

The film has an excessive decency for a 1971 work. Although it is obvious that Phillipe and Paul have a loving and sexual relationship, there is no show of affection between them.

Even the relationship between Paul and Marie-Laure, shown more graphically on screen, is cold and passionless.

The movie didn't add much to me.

Most French films of this period ( 1960's, 1970's ) that approached the subject of homosexuality were messed up because French society at the time was basically deeply homophobic. Catholicism was a strong force against homosexuals and books that dealt with the subject were banned or were pathetically negative. This is a furtive film and there is nothing of Robert Bresson about it. Many films were given praise because of a certain ' style ' that is associated with Bresson, and this at the time could give a film like this on a ' delicate ' subject credence. I like Gerard Blain as an actor, but I find him messed up as a director. The story here is of an inter-generational ' friendship ' and it is not moving but banal, and the acting from the young man involved bland. Why the film has not been lost in the mists of a time and why it should be worthy of Gay interest is a mystery to me. It had to take an X-Rated French film like ' Le Beau Mec ' to confront homosexuality head on and in a beautiful sex scene show a limited public what this ' taboo ' subject was honestly about.

One of the mavericks of the French cinema ,Gerard Blain became famous with three great works ,two of which ("Le Beau Serge" "Les Cousins" )belonged to the Nouvelle Vague whereas the third one was one of the masterpieces of the old one ("Voici Le Temps Des Assassins"). The clues to his future as a director were not Claude Chabrol or Julien Duvivier though.His most notable influence is arguably Robert Bresson.The amateurish acting of the actors who deliver their lines in a neutral voice ,a sense of ellipsis ,all that reminds you of Bresson.

In his absorbing memoirs "J'Ai Oublié DE Vous Dire" ,Jean-Claude Brialy ,who was Blain's co-star in "Le Beau Serge" and "Les Cousins" ,wrote that he was sexually assaulted as an adolescent and that his hatred for homosexuals was strong.In his film,it does not show.Neither does it in "Un Infant Dans La Foule".

Blain was an accursed actor/director who never got the praise he deserved even though "Les Amis "was awarded a prize in a festival.

Like in "Un Infant Dans La Foule" ,Blain put a lot of himself in "Les Amis";like his hero,he left school when he was 13,his father left his family when he was Young ,and he used to live with his mom and sister;and he became an actor ,even though his fame was short-lived .

In "Un Infant Dans La Foule" ,the youngster would sleep with men to provide his family with food -it was the Occupation days-;in "Les Amis" ,Paul is a flayed alive teenager desperately in search of a dad :his relationship with Philippe is much more complex than a sexual attraction :he uses the word "godfather" when he introduces his friend to friends and the word rings true: no one taught Paul to live -the scenes with the mother and the sister are revealing -,no one talked him about love (there's a deeply moving conversation on the beach in which we learn that Philippe leads an unfulfilled life but that there are things such as tenderness,memories ,which survive in his Relationship with his wife ).When Paul meets people his age (and particularly the attractive blonde Marie-Laure ) the older man does not get jealous,does not ask any question .

Even when they play the parts of Theseus and Hippolytus in Racine's "Phèdre" ,they use a neutral delivery to serve the playwright ;like his master,Bresson,Blain refuses any dramatization: Philippe's car crash is not shown;it's not because she 's discovered Paul is bisexual that Marie-Laure walks out on him,but because she's a selfish spoilt young bourgeois (Blain depicts in lavish detail the girl's desirable mansion and Paul's seedy flat)And the good friend (Jean-Claude Dauphin ,an actor who became a bit famous on TV films later)is not a traitor :as Paul discloses everything to him,that Philippe is his lover,that he is no rich kid,he might have used it as a weapon to get the blonde girl:even though he has sex with her ,he remains true to his pal and their friendship,as they leave the cemetery ,is the reason why distraught Paul will carry on.

This is a delicate movie,with a great sense of decency ;the cinematography is luminous and splendid ;Deauville ,par excellence the posh seaside resort, had never been filmed that way:in spite of the luxury hotel,of the tennis courts ,of the rings where the Young jet set learns to ride their horses,Blain makes us feel a threat ,a sword of Damoclès hanging over Paul's head (it may be the bellboy who briefly turns round when Paul returns to the room he shares with his friend;it may be Marie-Laure's parents who ask him about his high school;it may be his sister who wonders how he makes money).

François De Roubaix's score is different from what the great musician generally writes :his music sounds casual ,"soap opera" ,and it serves the movie,for it enhances Paul's imaginary life.

People looking for homo-erotic stuff will be disappointed for sure;but cinema buffs interested in French cinema should see "Les Amis" . Let it be an introduction to other Blain's films : " Un Infant Dans la Foule' "Pierre Et Djemila" and his curious MTV "La Fortune De Gaspard ",from La Comtesse De Ségur which depicts ,in its way ,another homosexual -athough platonic- relationship between an old manufacturer and a very ambitious young dude.