French is my first language so obviously, no barrier on that front and I often enjoy moody and slow flicks featuring gay themes with some explicit parts thrown in but this is not one of them. First, the good points are that the acting is quite good and the cinematography is realistic yet effective. Now on to business with the bad and there is plenty I'm afraid. I don't really get all the good reviews for this and it might be an acquired taste but unlike many other movies I've seen multiple times, this makes a perfect candidate for the one off but never again category.
The story could have been interesting but the choice of editing scenes in a back and forth way through time is confusing at best and annoying at worst. It took me a little while to see that I was supposed to guess which part of the main lead's timeline I was watching, some clues being the hair lengths. But it became tiresome quickly and at some point, I started to fast forward through bits and parts which never made me feel like I missed anything.
I understand that French cinema is often less narrative and often prefers to settle on moods and atmospheres to set up a story but there needs to be a clear indication that a jump back in time has been made yet every scene was homogenized in terms of editing therefore creating a jerky feeling of losing track of the story through confusing abrupt cuts. If it had been only flashbacks it could have been less baffling but scenes seemed to be put together at random through a back and forth motion through time.
The end was in no way satisfying and I'm all for not tying every loose ends in a scenario but the viewer needs something to latch onto otherwise the whole exercise becomes rather pointless. Some might argue that we're left to our own interpretation but this just made me feel like the writers were too lazy to come up with a proper way to tie up their story and I use the term loosely.
The number one reason why this doesn't really work for me is the lack of a proper structure to construct an enticing story. Putting together aimless shots in jerky cuts while hoping to convey a coming of age scenario doesn't quite work in my book. I was hoping for more and I was disappointed. So 3 is the only rating this thing will get from me.
The story could have been interesting but the choice of editing scenes in a back and forth way through time is confusing at best and annoying at worst. It took me a little while to see that I was supposed to guess which part of the main lead's timeline I was watching, some clues being the hair lengths. But it became tiresome quickly and at some point, I started to fast forward through bits and parts which never made me feel like I missed anything.
I understand that French cinema is often less narrative and often prefers to settle on moods and atmospheres to set up a story but there needs to be a clear indication that a jump back in time has been made yet every scene was homogenized in terms of editing therefore creating a jerky feeling of losing track of the story through confusing abrupt cuts. If it had been only flashbacks it could have been less baffling but scenes seemed to be put together at random through a back and forth motion through time.
The end was in no way satisfying and I'm all for not tying every loose ends in a scenario but the viewer needs something to latch onto otherwise the whole exercise becomes rather pointless. Some might argue that we're left to our own interpretation but this just made me feel like the writers were too lazy to come up with a proper way to tie up their story and I use the term loosely.
The number one reason why this doesn't really work for me is the lack of a proper structure to construct an enticing story. Putting together aimless shots in jerky cuts while hoping to convey a coming of age scenario doesn't quite work in my book. I was hoping for more and I was disappointed. So 3 is the only rating this thing will get from me.