L'homme de sa vie

A lovely film about a somewhat-romantic friendship between a straight married man and a gay single guy. An interesting note is that this story was written and directed by a woman, Zabou Breitman. The dynamics between the men, more subtle and conversational than physical, allow us to learn more than if the issue of sex was raised quickly. The romance is not about sexual attraction, but the role people play in he life of the other that bring forth emotions. This is a rich film, combining philosophy with sensuality, whimsy with beauty. While the pace is slow, there are twists along the way, beautiful cinematography, humorous bursts and many believable characters to keep us interested. Well worth viewing.

I keep forgetting name of this movie and I describe it as the French movie with the two guys talking all night and the sheer drapes flowing in the wind. I found it to be one of the best gay movies ever. It's honest and deeper than most. It's also very French. Which is fine by me. But it won't be for everyone. A couple of years after watching it I choose it again thinking it was something I hadn't seen. A few minutes in I realized I had and watched it all over again.

Summer somewhere in France. A couple and their young son invite family and friends to enjoy a warm rural holiday at their old but comfortable summer house. A neighbor, a middle-aged single man, is invited to join the first night's outdoor party. It is quickly revealed that the man is gay. He and the husband start a tentative friendship. How far will it go?

Beyond the apparently simple plot line, what struck me about this film were the visual aspects. A playful camera delights us with unconventional angles, framing, superpositions and transitions. Combining beautiful cinematography and great editing, the end result is a superb film. The tango music is icing on the cake.

This was just so bad. It should be shown in film course as an example of what not to do. Watching it reminded me of a line from the 1932 movie "Grand Hotel," where Greta Garbo says " People come, people go; nothing ever happens." Ostensibly about the evolving relationship between gay Hugo and straight Frederick, the movie is littered with numerous characters and plot threads that do nothing but confuse. While beautiful to look at, the cinematographer is as confusing as whatever passes for a plot. Repetition does nothing to give meaning to shot after shot. A sad waste of the efforts of a decent cast trying to give meaning to utter BS.

The movie is visually stunning and all the actors did a good job, but it tries too hard to be artistic and it mostly fails.

The two main male characters have deep talks about life, love, family and their meaning, discussion which is constantly shown in flashbacks, repeating the last minute of the previous one, but they lack substance. It tries to be witty, and that it's pretty obvious, but it fails.

The relationship of them is never truly explained, also leaving the viewer with a confusing open ending - again, it tried not to be "in your face", to make you think, to discover things by yourself but it couldn't raise to the stakes raised by itself.

The director, Zabou Breitman wasn't at her first try in the movie industry; now, I don't know how her other films hold up, they don't have a page on Wikipedia, nor on RottenTomatoes and her directed films on IMDb don't have a rating yet (maybe all that means something too), even if released years ago, but if the others are the same, they aren't worthy.

On the bright side, it's cinematography is really great, it has some beautiful shot moments, she knows her way around the camera - too bad they don't integrate very well into the film.

4/10