A moving BL drama set in Europe

[PeterRS]

I have called it a BL movie but I am not sure if that is the right description, if only because the boys in the movie - both amateurs who act superbly - are 13 and just about to reach puberty. In 2022 CLOSE was nominated for a Golden Globe, an Oscar for Best Foreign Movie and won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Following the showing, the Cannes audience gave the actors a 10-minute standing ovation. Since then it has won a slew of awards all over the world. It is a movie which had quite an effect on me to the point where I was almost in tears at its beauty, an effect which it has had on many who have watched it, including hard-bitten reviewers.

Having decided this was a movie he wanted to make, the young Belgian director wondered how on earth he would cast it. One day on a Belgian train he found himself seated next to a group of school kids all chattering and laughing. One stood out for him, one of the most animated and with the most amazing eyes. He asked the boy if he would be interested in a casting session and then discussed it with his mother. This boy was then cast as the main protagonist in the film, Leo, whose eyes tell much of the story. 

I don't want to give too much away, but the first 15 minutes or so of the movie are about Leo and his best friend Remi, about how they play together one summer holiday, have fun together as all kids do and even sleep over in Remi's bed. It is extremely beautifully filmed. There is nothing sexual here. But when they both go to the same secondary school, their close friendship attracts attention, the sort that Leo finds difficult to accept. I will go no further as that will give the rest of the story away. I will just say again it is a beautifully filmed, amazingly powerful movie. The review which I post here does have the spoiler so be prepared to look away at this point if you do not want to know what happens. The movie was shown two weeks ago on True Visions but ridiculously in French without English sub-titles. I have heard from True that it will be shown again towards the end of April with sub-titles.

[PeterRS]

For anyone interested, TrueVisions in Thailand is showing a sub-titled version of Close at 8:00 pm on Tuesday 28 April Channel 223.

[Pete1111]

I've seen Close.

In the States, you can stream it free on TubiTV.

Another coming of age gay film called Heartstone (2016, Iceland), has similar themes as Close. 

praised for its intimate portrayal of youth, stunning Icelandic scenery, and authentic performances, it won the Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival. 

In the States, stream it on Kanopy, TubiTV, YouTube and other platforms.  Very good film.

[PeterRS]

I just finished watching the movie Close. Like many, including critics, I found tears flowing. The story line is partly explained above, how the often intense and innocent friendships we make in our early years are thrown away as puberty hits us and we try to fit in with a different crowd of older boys and girls. The extraordinary thing about this movie is that the two 13-year old boys who are the main characters had never acted before. One, Eden Dambrine, gives a stunning performance as Leo, one which I consider better than that of Timothee Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name when he was nominated for an Oscar. Eden has the most beautiful large eyes and it is three close-up shots in particular where they fill the screen and we know eactly what he is thinking behind those eyes. The first is when his friend Remi is playing the oboe at a primary school concert. The adoration in those eyes is remarkable. Then, after they have moved to a secondary school and the bullies and the girls have had a go at them about being gay (but that is never explained as fact and they were probably too young at know it at the time) and not fitting in, when Remi is discovered not to be on the bus returning from a field trip to a beach, those eyes betray the horror Leo fears has happened. Finally, whereas the opening shots of the movie have the two boys running together and laughing through fields of beautiful flowers, the final one has Leo alone in those fields a year later. When he turns and faces the camera, we know that while he has grown more into a teenager with other friends and interests, the eyes tell us he still longs for Remi. The blame he long felt and did not acknowledge for pushing Remi away and thus perhaps causing his suicide has finally gone - but not the memories.

The vdo below is of the 10-minute ovation given to the movie by the audience when it was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022. The interesting part, to my thinking, is when the director Lukas Dhont takes a microphone to dedicate the movie to all the friends that he pushed away during his early life. It is very moving, and probably is something we all experienced and indeed is what the movie is basically about. Please just start at 10'00 minutes in. You need only watch for 1'20".