Wild Side

Confronting and acknowledging other sexualities often stems either from an intimate awareness of other orientations on one hand, or a determined political correctness on the other. Wild side, a film of haunting images and an unusual love triangle, opts for the former.

As the film opens, the camera pans slowly over a naked body of someone asleep. The gaze is quite sensual, but the figure fairly androgynous. The curve of a bosom appears, reassuringly female, and then we see the penis of the sleeping form a few moments later. Cut to a Parisienne bar where an audience of transsexuals listen enraptured to the almost operatic quality of a singer lamenting a dead lover ("I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy"), the song ending with the question, "Was he a boy or a girl?" Wild side proceeds to alternate between scenes of exquisite beauty, such as a figure running through a lush field - to scenes of tawdry sexuality, like a quick blow-job in a red light area. We meet Stephanie, a transsexual who has been reduced to turning tricks as a prostitute. The flashbacks show her as a young boy, Pierre. As the story develops, we see her leaving Paris to care for her terminally ill mother, together with her new Russian boyfriend Mikhail. They are soon joined by her friend Djamel, a bisexual male who has also been working as a prostitute in Paris.

Wild side is beautifully photographed. The French countryside and imaginative camera angles are complemented by excellent and typically unpretentious French acting which draws a clear distinction between the intimacy of lovers and the functionality of the paid sex, even when conducted with as much courtesy as the situation (and clients) allows. But it is the focus on the ordinary, gentle emotions of Stephanie and her two companions, whether to each other or their family, that helps the audience put Stephanie's trans sexuality into perspective and this is one of the not inconsiderable achievements of the film. We see her primarily as a person and, most importantly, as a woman. There is never anywhere the feeling that 'she' is really 'he' - and it is no effort of political correctness, simply a fact. Stephanie is a woman, emotionally to her mother (who has to come to terms with the change), and also in sharp contrast to the two men (Mikhail and Djamel) in her life. She is a woman who used to be a boy and she still has a penis (which she uses sometimes). Perhaps the recognition of Stephanie being 'she' is nowhere more forcefully apparent than in a fairly crude scene where a voyeur, paying Stephanie to perform sex with Mikhail, tells Mikhail to "f*ck *her*" and then to "jack her off" while he's doing so.

Ultimately, we realise the world of tenderness between Stephanie and her mother, and between her and her lovers, is one that a casual view of her persona would have missed. We are easily obsessed by someone's sexuality when it is not the same as our own - and to the extent that it is hard to see beyond it. In the early days of homophobic social interaction, gay people are simply seen by heterosexuals as people who have sex with persons of the same gender - that image is forefront, even though the same heterosexuals would never dream of continually thinking when meeting a new straight acquaintance, "this is a person who has sex with people of the opposite gender"! With Stephanie, the outward film-flam is two-fold - firstly she is transsexual, and that is difficult to see past for anyone who has never got to know a transsexual as a friend, as another human being. Secondly, she works (or has spent time working) as a prostitute - something we would normally see tattooed on someone's forehead immediately that fact was known. Both these things have affected her life, but they are not the most central thing to her character. They are her 'wild side' perhaps, but one which - at least to her mother, for instance, is of little consequence.

Wild Side was one of the best movies at last year's Rotterdam Film Festival, and is a must see for the admirers of Lifshitz (Corps overt, Les). The title refers to Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed.

The story follows the lives of three social outcasts. Stéphanie is 32, transsexual, a prostitute and tired of life. She finds incidental moments of happiness by going out or hanging around with her girlfriends. Stéphanie lives with Jamel (Terres froides, Les), an young North African who also occasionally works as a prostitute. When Stéphanie meets the Russian Michail, a deserter and illegal immigrant in France, she can't choose between the two men and a triangular relationship ensues.

The 3 characters are by society considered as outcasts, but the unlikely friends have found comfort and passion in each other. Lifshitz managed to create a mirror of life and hope, which is reflected through the beautiful performance of his actors.

The director provides a realistic picture of the life of his characters, without glorifying or glamorising the fringes of society. A movie for those who appreciate life, love and friendship.

8/10

In Paris, the thirty-two years old travesty Stéphanie (Stéphanie Michelini) a.k.a. Pierre is a streetwalker that lives with the Egyptian gay hustler Djamel (Yasmine Belmadi) and the Russian gay Mikhail (Edouard Nikitine) that works in a restaurant. When the hospital where her mother Liliane (Josiane Stoléru) is terminal calls her, she travels with her two lovers to the countryside to look after her dying mother. While at home, she recalls her childhood and how she met Djamel and Mikhail.

"Wild Side" is an unconventional love story recommended for specific audiences. I am not fan of movies about homosexual relationships, but "Wild Side" is a good movie indeed, a sort of gay version of "Jules et Jim" regarding a woman divided by her two lovers. The performances are top notch and very realistic especially considering that this is the first work of Stéphanie Michelini and Edouard Nikitine. Unfortunately the characters are awfully developed and never explains why Pierre left her hometown when he was fifteen years old and why he became a travesty. Or why Mikhail left home in Russia. Or why Djamel has a relationship problem with his mother; further, the abrupt conclusion is disappointing and pointless. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Lado Selvagem" ("Wild Side")

It was clear with "Come Undone" that Sebastian Lifshitz is a director very much worth watching. "Wild Side", despite its shortcomings, reaffirms his rare talents. His forte is in creating pensive, moody pieces, with a powerful and moving realism. This he does with great precision utilizing light and camera with far greater care than we have become used to. There is a sense of an artist at work. Added to this, he has an astonishing gift for evoking extremely moving and convincing performances from his actors.

The problem with "Wild Side" is that it is devoid of plot and has almost no character development. The mood is what keeps the viewer captivated. While this in itself is not unrewarding, a stronger storyline would certainly have added much. The film terminates suddenly and unexpectedly, usually signifying a lack of inner logic. It could have ended at any point with the same result.

The disparate trio of transsexual, bisexual hustler and Russian immigrant is observed in a totally non judgemental manner and with genuine compassion. This is the films true strength. While flashbacks furnish very sparse information about the transsexual's childhood, almost nothing of the remaining protagonist's backgrounds is revealed. Lifshtz's aim is not to try to understand these social outcasts and their aberrant behaviours but rather to connect us with them on a human level that goes beyond definition of gender are race.

This film does have a lot of depth to the characters, but you don't see it on screen.

If you are one of those people who watches a film for the bits you see on screen and have little time to explore what is happening away from what we are directly looking at then maybe you might not enjoy this.

There is a lack of glitzy feel-good factor about the film, but in my opinion it is what makes it so beautiful. The roughness of it all is where you can concentrate on what is happening inside the characters and not with what they are wearing, or what they look like etc.,

The struggle going on in all the main characters lives and the way they deal with society and interact with it is also very well done. The country scenery, although bleak, takes on a beauty and serenity compared to the almost chaos of the city scenes.

A lovely scene from antony and the johnsons lead singer(antony) adds to the whole group atmosphere.

This film is more like a fly on the wall of life amongst a section of trans-gendered people and their close ones more than a film with a plot. Definitely worth watching if you have an interest in these issues.