L'homme que j'aime

After seeing Brokeback Mountain, I've been adding to my film library more gay-themed films. Because I'm a collector, I've been buying films I haven't seen before.

Some of them are simply awful in their script, acting, and/or direction, but remain in my library because of the "piece of history" they represent. And once in a while, I hit upon a truly outstanding film that surpasses expectations in all these ways.

L'Homme Que J'Aime ("The Man I love") is one such hidden gem. The story is moving, the characters charming, the acting believable, and everything put together by a competent director.

Like Brokeback Mountain, the story involves an ostensibly straight man falling for another man, but this time, the object of his affection is an openly gay man. To Americans, that may seem to stretch the realm of possibility too far. I lived in France for a year, and the plot line seemed perfectly believable to me in the context of French culture. Note also that this film was made for French TV... which tells me that the story was considered "mainstream" enough to be broadcast in France.

This little gem of a movie is available on DVD, and I highly recommend it. In French, with optional English subtitles.

I Loved this movie. It was passionate, believable and just a beautiful film all the way around. One of those movies you don't just watch but you feel. Highly recommended for fans of foreign gay cinema! This director and all of the actors are superb!

Strange summary but let's face it- Jean-Michele Portal's excellent portrayal of "Lucas" reminds me of H of "CSI: Miami". Nearly emotionless, yet full of passion. Too bad American TV is not as sophisticated. I would be willing to bet that nothing was said against the film when it was screened on French TV. Try that in America, land of the free? I doubt it. What are people so afraid of? People in love? Amazing. A magnificent performance by the entire cast. The cute little church toward the end was very nice, as was the entire scenery. Many thanks for a realistic story that saves us the fluff but provides closure and meaning along with hope. Nobody is forgotten. Merci.

At the age of 55, I've spent my entire life in the USA and have rarely had occasion to view any "foreign" films. In seeking out gay-themed films to watch in recent months, I've discovered that the majority of those generally rated most highly by voters on this site aren't made here (in the USA), and so consequently, fully half of the films I've watched are European-made.

For me, most of these films suffer from three faults: (1) They tend to me far too "preachy." It feels like every scene is trying to demonstrate some important lesson in life, making the movies seem more like a classroom on the big screen rather than entertainment.

(2) The dialogue, even when it's not attempting to teach me something, is awkward and forced. People just don't talk that way; the conversations are always so unnatural that they come across being emotionless, and I don't don't feel emotion in the characters, there really is no point for my being in the movie theater.

(3) The story line is of little or no consequence, since all of the emphasis is given to making a point (see item 1). As a result, I rarely develop any interest in these films.

This movie was an exception to all of the above. Oh, you still do get banged over the head with some commentary on life's little failings, but only softly, and the dialogue could be warmed up and made more believable here and there, and now and then you want to scream at the way Lucas treats Martin or vice-versa - making them look a bit like cold fish, but those momentary lapses didn't seriously impede my enjoyment of the movie.

On the whole, I can happily recommend this movie to others like me for whom an emotionally interesting and involving story-line is the #1 consideration for enjoying a movie.

First of all, the theatrical packaging for this movie totally misrepresents it as a romantic gay comedy. A third of the way into the film it turns into an AIDS tragedy. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not what I was expecting when I rented it.

The previous posters seem to think this movie is a comedy. I must have seen a different movie from them. I agree it's a good film, but I didn't find anything comic about it. I was crying throughout the last half hour or so.

Well, it's an interesting film and I think it's worth seeing. I just wonder why all gay movies have to be about AIDS.

That said, I think it's a good portrayal of a presumably straight man falling for a gay man and embracing gay sex. The actor playing Lucas does an excellent job as the confused straight boy who finds himself falling in love with Martin no matter how hard he tries to fight it.

I just wish someone would write a gay movie where nobody has AIDS.

Ken