Quand on a 17 ans (Being 17)
I'm going to cheat here and leave Asia, to pick up a French film I really enjoyed recently, Being 17, directed by the master of teenage sexual awakening, André Techiné. The film is currently available on Netflix.
Summary: The story focuses on a year in the life of two isolated unpopular high school students, intelligent Damien and sullen withdrawn Thomas, living in a small town in southwestern France. They detest each other without really understanding why, and regularly get into fistfights. When Thomas's mother falls ill, the local doctor - who also happens to be Damien's mother, Marianne - attends to her. This connection between the two families eventually sees the two boys thrown into each other's company more often, increasing the violence. Thomas's grades at school rapidly deteriorate, not helped by him having to commute three hours a day for school. Marianne proposes a solution that horrifies both boys: Thomas can come and live with her and Damien in town until his mother's health improves, in an attempt to get his school life back on track. Once living together, the boys' violent hatred changes into tentative attraction.
There's a lot to like about this movie, not least of which is the reliably amazing performance of Sandrine Kiberlain as Marianne. Techiné has a beautifully unique way of juxtaposing minimal dialogue with a feigned languor in his direction that it lends an almost impressionistic quality to his movies. I especially love the scene where Damien insists on Thomas driving him to an isolated farm without telling him why, only to see his true purpose brilliantly - and humorously - used against him by Thomas. All Damien can do is wait for Thomas and watch an automated lawn mower circle the farm's front lawn. It's directed so matter-of-factly that it would almost be naturalistic if it weren't so weirdly contrived.
The film is set in a small town surrounded by the looming beautiful Pyrenees Mountains, so the four seasons of the story are used to great effect as a chart of the boys' relationship. Winter in particular is harsh and snowbound but so beautiful. Seeing Thomas walk alone through the mountains and forest in shin-deep snow at night, then swimming naked in a frigid lake, is not something I'm likely to forget for a long time.
The 'hate turns to love' trope is used as the main force of the movie, but as always, I found it thin and unconvincing. Assault just doesn't indicate hidden feelings of attraction. Having so little dialogue doesn't help either - although there's perhaps enough from the more forthcoming Damien after the farm drive scene to give them both the push. The difficulty is with Thomas, who is so withdrawn that he essentially says nothing but constantly looks mortified and afraid of what Damien might say or do next. These reactions are a natural and laudable choice for the director to make - it's much more true to life - but they detract from the believability of the 'turning point' from hate to love.
The story takes a tragic turn about midway through the film, which I'm still not sure is entirely successful. Too much is made of it and it drags on, but it works best as a showcase for Kiberlain's acting. In any case, it's the springboard for the boys' relationship to really blossom into an intense passion.
If I was going to recommend a European film that's an equivalent to Asian BL, it would definitely be this one.
Rating: 15 out of 20.
Ending: Happy
Best scene: this is a tough one, so I'll pick two.
(1) The boys have a brutal fist fight on an exposed mountainside, with a savage electrical storm crackling and thundering just above their heads.
(2) Thomas stripping naked in a snowy forest then diving into a frigid lake, with Damien watching on dumbfounded.
Summary: The story focuses on a year in the life of two isolated unpopular high school students, intelligent Damien and sullen withdrawn Thomas, living in a small town in southwestern France. They detest each other without really understanding why, and regularly get into fistfights. When Thomas's mother falls ill, the local doctor - who also happens to be Damien's mother, Marianne - attends to her. This connection between the two families eventually sees the two boys thrown into each other's company more often, increasing the violence. Thomas's grades at school rapidly deteriorate, not helped by him having to commute three hours a day for school. Marianne proposes a solution that horrifies both boys: Thomas can come and live with her and Damien in town until his mother's health improves, in an attempt to get his school life back on track. Once living together, the boys' violent hatred changes into tentative attraction.
There's a lot to like about this movie, not least of which is the reliably amazing performance of Sandrine Kiberlain as Marianne. Techiné has a beautifully unique way of juxtaposing minimal dialogue with a feigned languor in his direction that it lends an almost impressionistic quality to his movies. I especially love the scene where Damien insists on Thomas driving him to an isolated farm without telling him why, only to see his true purpose brilliantly - and humorously - used against him by Thomas. All Damien can do is wait for Thomas and watch an automated lawn mower circle the farm's front lawn. It's directed so matter-of-factly that it would almost be naturalistic if it weren't so weirdly contrived.
The film is set in a small town surrounded by the looming beautiful Pyrenees Mountains, so the four seasons of the story are used to great effect as a chart of the boys' relationship. Winter in particular is harsh and snowbound but so beautiful. Seeing Thomas walk alone through the mountains and forest in shin-deep snow at night, then swimming naked in a frigid lake, is not something I'm likely to forget for a long time.
The 'hate turns to love' trope is used as the main force of the movie, but as always, I found it thin and unconvincing. Assault just doesn't indicate hidden feelings of attraction. Having so little dialogue doesn't help either - although there's perhaps enough from the more forthcoming Damien after the farm drive scene to give them both the push. The difficulty is with Thomas, who is so withdrawn that he essentially says nothing but constantly looks mortified and afraid of what Damien might say or do next. These reactions are a natural and laudable choice for the director to make - it's much more true to life - but they detract from the believability of the 'turning point' from hate to love.
The story takes a tragic turn about midway through the film, which I'm still not sure is entirely successful. Too much is made of it and it drags on, but it works best as a showcase for Kiberlain's acting. In any case, it's the springboard for the boys' relationship to really blossom into an intense passion.
If I was going to recommend a European film that's an equivalent to Asian BL, it would definitely be this one.
Rating: 15 out of 20.
Ending: Happy
Best scene: this is a tough one, so I'll pick two.
(1) The boys have a brutal fist fight on an exposed mountainside, with a savage electrical storm crackling and thundering just above their heads.
(2) Thomas stripping naked in a snowy forest then diving into a frigid lake, with Damien watching on dumbfounded.
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