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Hjartasteinn (2016)
I've been searching for a movie like this
Ever since I watched Being 17, I was sure I would never see another beautifully shot non-cliche teenage story about sexuality, but this movie proved me wrong.
I'll be honest, I am disappointed that in the end, nothing truly romantic developed, but I also understand it fits the narrative and the characters of the story and it was beautifully done otherwise, so I'm not even mad at it.
Because this movie has it all when it comes to showing the confusion and exploration lgbt+ youth go through whilst going through puberty and discovering relationships. In fact, it does a heck of a lot better job than other lgbt+ movies, even those that DO have romance in the end.
If I wanted someone who didn't understand what it was like to be lgbt+ to understand me, I'd show them this wonderfully made movie to express what it's like to develop homosexual desires through puberty that leads to confusing crushes on friends and feelings of jealousy and repressed love. I literally saw a younger version of myself in this movie, living the shame and repulsion again of what it was like to feel different among my peers who were going through the same journey of sexuality except mine being completely different.
Unlike Yo Adolescente, which tries to tackle the same themes of lgbt+ sexual journeys and suicidal awareness, Hjartasteinn actually does this in a real and convincing way while being captivating and on focus and never once perpetuates negative stereotypes or unhealthy views of lgbt+ youth. I'd recommend this movie to anyone who loves a good lgbt+ coming of age story or anyone such as an writer or artist who has a lgbt+ character but who isn't gay to use this as research of what the gay experience is like, because this movie shows it perfectly.
Quand on a 17 ans (2016)
I've watched this too many times to count
Corentin Fila and Kacey Mottet Klein are brilliant at playing their roles--they showed the silent need and desire to get closer to another in such subtle yet strong details that I can't get over, and the writing and dialogue in this is just as strong!
I loved how all the side stories, the side struggles, etc. all came together full circle at the end of the film to a wonderful conclusion. I really felt like everyone in this film was a real person I almost had to remind myself it wasn't real. It was sad, and heartfelt, and enjoyable to watch and entertaining!
Not to mention, it touched so many deep subjects without ever losing sight of its main theme and purpose. I loved the development of Thomas from being sort of like Damien's bully to his lover--something which would usually be done wrongfully and be problematic, but transgressed so smoothly, it only worked to strengthen their bond.
The place this is shot at in France is jaw-droppingly beautiful and I loved the farm action going on in the background and the bonding scenes between the two boys and their families, it felt so whole and raw, even if it was just scenes here and there, I never was bored watching this movie and I've watched it several times now and haven't found much else like this that show a true interesting love development between two teen boys without being cringy or cliche.
If you haven't watched it already and love lgbt+ films or maybe just really love romances, this movie is definitely the one you want to watch!
Loev (2015)
Harmful representation, among other offenses
I applaud everybody who made this movie possible, as it must've taken a lot of courage to release such a progressive indian film...but it troubles me that this movie will be the introduction the Indian population has of lgbt+ love and relationships. I do think it is quite a good movie despite many troubles.
The relationships in this movie are troubling and I found Sahil and Jai's disturbing. Constant bickering, arguing, and no safe and positive physical reconciliation between couples. I know the actors are capable of intimate scenes and kissing, so why don't we see more physical contact between Sahil and Alex? I almost didn't believe the two were even together because it wasn't made obvious enough and Sahil seemed reluctant to kiss or even caress his boyfriend. All the lgbt+ relationships in this film feel off and alien, almost like the feeling you get when you see two stars standing next to eachother in media claiming they're together but the whole thing seems like a publicity stunt because they have no physical closeness that you can see.
I'm not sure if it's because the actors were uncomfortable with more physical scenes than necessary, or if the director was still uncomfortable with the idea or not, but all the gay relationships seemed incomplete or not fully there, if that makes sense, we're told they're together and we see them together, but besides the one scene where Sahil and Alex are dancing and when Alex alludes to them doing sexual things, they really don't scream a couple.
I agree no couple is perfect, but even couples with problems on-screen tend to be more obvious about their relationship. If I hadn't read the bio of the movie before watching I would've thought Sahil was having an argument with a friend or roomate in the beginning it wasn't until Alex joked about getting no kiss before he left that I realized they were together and even then I couldn't tell if that was just a joke between two friends since it was so open-ended and poorly received from Sahil who supposedly really loved Alex.
I would've liked if the movie showed Sahil and Alex more intimately both conversionally and physically just to make it clear, although I understand this may be new to an indian actor or director to handle.
However, if we're going to be progressive I think it's very necessary to go all in. I'm disappointed it seemed to gloss over quite literally "love" when it came to the men and their feelings if that's the title's significance. I also was disturbed that the writer choose a disturbing relationship to make the introduction of lgbt+ relationships to its audience. It was a harmful move, not to mention perpetuates the idea that gays are predators and rough and just r*pists.
We have clearly two very vulnerable scenes (both being one of the few only intimate scenes, which makes them stand out) 1) where Jai tries to force himself on Sahil while they're cuddling, causing Sahil to reject him and 2) one where Jai sexually assaults Sahil not too much later in an attempt to pressure their relationship further.
This scene is the brutalest forcing upon i've ever seen and i've seen a lot of boys' love where this happens. Sahil is literally crying from the moment Jai forces a kiss exclaiming for him to stop and then Jai holds him down forcing himself and stripping Sahil as Sahil repeatedly screams for him not to and then he r*pes him. Notice that this happens after Sahil has made it clear more than once he doesn't want to take any of Jai's advances. But then Jai acts as if Sahil is wrong because he came with him on the trip and is just asking for it basically since they used to be together, regardless of these mixed feelings, I feel like this sends bad misinformed signals about lgbt+ to those watching from India who don't usually have queer representation.
I can't stress enough how harmful this is to introduce an audience whose most likely holding more conservative views to see their prejudice thoughts being confirmed through a lgbt+ movie. This would've been okay if this wasn't one of the first indian lgbt+ films to exist, but being that it is, I would've strayed away from anything that was sexually aggressive and predatory.
And then in the end, we get a kiss scene we hadn't seen before from earlier, way before the assault scene happens, perhaps suggesting Sahil liked Jai enough to accept his affection before, maybe justifying it? But I still think it didn't justify anything and I have to say that it left me feeling strange knowing we never get to know the real conclusion of their feelings.
In addition, maybe it's just a different culture, because I've noticed this in other Indian media but... the humor seems to be made up of constant passive aggressiveness that I wasn't used to at all, sometimes it made me think the characters genuinely were 24/7 annoyed and pissed off at each other and it fell flat in making me laugh so some of the scenes had me wondering if they were truly bickering or just playing around since it seemed to come across as real annoyance. I guess it's similar to how other cultures might be confused by sarcasm or dry humor, if you're not used to it, it can be hard to grasp when its a joke and when it's not.
I'm not including that in my rating of 4/10, but just letting others know that the humor in this may not be what you're expecting and can be awkward to watch if it's not your sense of humor. Sometimes I even cringed especially when Sahil and Jai were play fighting. I rated this 4/10 because I admire the courage to make this movie, but it still has a long way to go to make others truly understand the gay experience in a way that doesn't perpetuate bad stereotypes...this was extremely important in this case since its one of the first of its kind for its country.