Skip to main content

Ma vie avec James Dean (French) [My Life with James Dean]

By Golu
I did not know what to expect when I started watching this film. I didn't even know what the genre of the film was. But It was a nice breezy film, with some nice fun moments. The film wasn't great by any standards, but neither was it bad. The charming leads of this film and the quirky chemistry that the actors shared with each other made this film a worthy watch. This wont fall in a typical romantic comedy genre, but it comes pretty close.

Geraud is a young film maker who is visiting a small town that is showcasing his film “My Life with James Dean”. His phone gets stolen by a kid as soon as he leaves the bus. Although his hotel reservation is done, it turns out that there is absolutely no promotion or word about his movie being played in the local cinema on that night. When Geraud visits the cinema, the young projectionist Balthazar agrees to play his film and in fact watches the whole film and loves it. Geraud is anxious about feedback for his film but at the same time, something is also going on with his boyfriend (they are breaking up). Balthazar falls madly in love with Geraud after seeing the film and pursues him with directness and honesty. During this festival screenings, Geraud and Balthazar meet interesting mix of people including the hotel receptionist, the festival facilitator dealing with her own issues and Balthazar's family. Eventually, Geraud breaks up with his boyfriend, after finding out he has a wife. Balthazar is finally able to convince Geraud of his love for him and they both leave the town.

After researching on internet, I found that the film was shot in Normandy seaside village which adds a very nice rustic charm to the whole film. In fact, this town got added in my must visit list of places. Geraud, the actor had this very attractive charm about him and you can see why everyone who meets him would get attracted to him. And Balthazar has this very sweet and cute puppy love for him. The scene when he calls Geraud's boyfriend asking him to stay away form him is so cute, a sign of pure innocent love. Combined with drunken evenings with locals, mixed reaction to his film, dealing with his break-up and a young boy madly in love with him, Geraud's life has a roller-coaster ride throughout his stay in the village. The direction was actually quite intelligent, because throughout the film you would see a young man with a bagpack showing up in most scenes but its not till the end that he adds any significance to the film. On not a positive side, there are way too many parallel tracks happening and as an audience its difficult to connect with any single one of them. Also it wasn't very clear at the end whether Balthazar was really underage or not really. As per the film, it was irrelevant because the two men loved each other? I am not too sure about this aspect.

The film is sort of an old school gay light fun film which most people should enjoy. The 2 scenes where 4-5 people are following each other cracked me up. Keep your expectations minimal and this film is a small little fun ride. (6.5/10)
Labels:

Comments

Sailor Maan said…
Seemed trange in the beginning, then got into the movie and found it really funny in the middle, but totally stupid in the end which ruined the all thing for me.
September 18, 2019 at 4:56 AM
Golu said…
Always keep expectations super low. Middle part was the only decent thing.
September 23, 2019 at 12:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

By Golu
Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...
5 comments
Read more

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

By Golu
Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...
3 comments
Read more

One Summer Night (Korean)

By Golu
I really wanted to like this film but for non native speakers, these movie leaves a lot to be understood and the way scenes were unfolding in front of me, I wasn't sure many times what was really going on. The story had potential button getting any back story on any of the characters limited my ability to empathize with any of these actors. Film starts with two North Korea military guys Yong Joon and Jae Sung having sex and they are caught red handed and they run. Three years later we see Yong Joon in Seoul leading a very mundane and poor life. He has a boyfriend Tae-Kyu, who is a weird guy. He is carefree, doesn't do any work and is completely emotional and financially dependent on Young Joon. In fact, even Yong Joon will go to any lengths to protect him , fend for him and taking care of him to the extent of even taking up prostitution. Suddenly one day Jae Sung appears in their life again. His motivation is not clear but it is obvious he wants Yong Joon back in his life, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more