Lilies - Les feluettes

I am writing mainly because the one comment I saw on this site was negative. I just watched the movie and it was gorgeous. Gorgeous scenery. Gorgeous men. Wonderful music. Jason Cadieux is gorgeous beyond words.

The movie is quite obviously set in a prison where there would be a lack of women. It is quite artistic. The use of men to play women is both campy, and artsy, hearkening back to Shakespeare. It is not done to get laughs however.

The twist in the movie is that the man who is to give his confession, hears a confession. It ends in a way that you must make up your mind about the punishment.

Luscious cinematography, soulful musical score, terrific casting, and limited use of revelatory flashbacks to dramatize the theme of societally-defined mores and criminal behavior. Artistic and judicious use of nudity and sexuality to illustrate the dilemmas of public versus private morality.

Everyone does things they would rather forget. Lilies is about one man's horrible sin returning to haunt him, 40 years after the fact. As a rash child, young Jean Bilodeau did all he could to seperate gay lovers Simon and Vallier- not for any high-minded moralistic reason, but out of his own jealousy and desire for Simon. 40 years later, Bilodeau and Simon meet again, and witness their history performed by prisoners in a Quebecois jail. What results is heartwrenching and beautiful.

The cinematography of Lilies is flawless, moving effortlessly between 1952 and 1912 with lush, vivid colours. The performances are also excellent, with Brent Carver a notable standout as Vallier's deluded mother (as the movie is a play set in a jail, we see the male prisoners perform all of the roles, including the female ones). Jason Cadieux and Danny Gilmore are beautiful as the young lovers going through the awkward pangs of adolesense, coming out, and first love. A truly beautiful movie for anyone who loves a good cinematic experience, I cannot recommend Lilies enough.

This film stands out in my collection as the most beautiful gay love story on film so far. It's lyrical story-telling is accented by it's Romeo & Juliet-inspired forbidden love theme, while avoiding any political message that plagues today's current stream of gay love stories. With it's gorgeous location, haunting sound-track and surreal moments of simple tenderness, Lilies succeeds at simply being a beautiful film.

This is a film of rare and astonishing brilliance, and unlike anything I personally have ever encountered before. It is exquisitely photographed and edited, and the acting is first rate all round. The all-male cast portraying both men and women might be off-putting for some, but it is performed so expertly that one forgets this detail - it is a film that magnificently transcends gender. In particular is Brent Carver's resplendent turn as the `mad countess,' the gentle, guileless mother of one of the young heroes. The story is a heartbreaking tale of love, jealousy, and ultimately, of Judgement Day, of the Day of Reckoning. That its storyline is about gay love should not put off heterosexual film goers, because the theme is timeless and universal. A bold and brilliant ‘must see.'