THEO & HUGO, 2016. Hugo (François Nambot) and Théo (Geoffrey
Couët) meet, in a highly-explicit fashion, in a French sex club. After they put
their clothes back on and head into the Paris night, their conversation about
how their sexual encounter had a deeper meaning seems to indicates the start of
romance (though one has to ask who looks for romance in a naked sex club?) But
their budding affair comes under strain when the confession of a mistake by one
of the young men prompts a revelation from the other.
This is pretty much a two-hander film which both actors rise to – including having real sex with each other.
The long twenty-minute opening sequence in the sex club may
be an eye-opener for some, but once the actors get dressed and venture out into
the Paris night as they tentatively get to know each other the plot develops as
we take in the consequences of having unprotected sex …..a more explicit WEEKEND (2011) then.
I like directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau’s earlier JEANNE AND THE PERFECT GUY from 1998, also an Aids-related subject starring Virginie Ledoyen and Mathieu Demy, the son of Jacques Demy and Agnes Varda. This latest film of the duo Ducastel and Martineau is another major landmark in gay cinema.
A different kind of gay flick is the Hungarian LAND OF STORMS from 2014, by Adam Csaszi. It drew me in with its slow moody pace, as we follow the young footballer Szabi, who has an intense relationship with fellow player Bernard, as he returns to his rural village to renovate a house he has inherited as he wants to give up football; he hires surly local youth Aron to help and another relationship of sorts develops, to the annoyance of Aron's ailing mother and the villagers. Bernard turns up to re-claim Szabi who has to decide what he really wants. The ending though is a nasty surprise one is not expecting, but I suppose it highlights the East European homophobic mindset (though Hungary, like the Czechs) had a booming porn industry.
I agree it's a more explicit Gallic WEEKEND. I really do need to see it again as there was a lot to take it (no pun intended) on an initial viewing. LAND OF STORMS sounds interesting if a tad on the grim side. If you haven't seen FLOATING SKYSCRAPERS (another Eastern European film with a gay theme) then avoid it like the plague.
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