Lilies (1996) User Reviews

From the Confessional

[gradyharp · 8/10 · 3 March 2006]

LILIES, based on a Canadian play 'Les feluettes' by Michel Marc Bouchard, has been adapted to the screen by Bouchard and placed in the sensitive hands of director John Greyson, an artist who is able to indulge in surrealism with reality and make it work well. This very beautiful film is cast entirely with men despite the fact that there are women roles in the story. How does he make that work successfully without pandering to artiness? View this little film and make the discovery for your self.

Set in Quebec in a prison, Bishop Bilodeau (Marcel Sabourin) has been summoned form the outside to hear the confession of 'a very sick man' who has been imprisoned for 40 years for a murder. Upon the Bishop's arrival the audience knows something is amiss: despite the atmosphere of the prison as a stage accompanied by choral singing of plainsong (The Hilliard Ensemble) there are props and images that seem out of place in a grim prison. The Bishop is ushered into the confessional booth and when he opens the window to hear confession, the person in the seat is Simon (Aubert Pallascio) the 'very sick' man who has planned for the bishop to watch a play depicting the 40 year old crime - a reverse on the confessional stance.Through a small aperture in the bishop's now locked confessional, the Bishop is forced to watch a reenactment of the incident 40 years ago when two young boys, Simon (Jason Cadieux) and Vallier (Danny Gilmore) were in love and the young future Bishop (Matthew Ferguson) was jealous of Vallier's attention from Simon and played a key role in 'murder' of Vallier that resulted in Simon's being accused and imprisoned. The atmosphere leading up to this act includes the reaction from the small town's homophobia and to Simon's sexual ambiguity that involves a strange lady Lydie-Anne (Alexander Chapman) who arrives form Paris via an air balloon. It is the interaction of the boys with the townsfolk, the new lady arrival who desires Simon's affections, and Vallier's understanding and self-sacrificing mother Countess De Tilly (Brent Carver) that leads to the fateful death of Simon. How the story ends in the confessional booth reversal is the beauty of the film that must be left unsaid for the drama to affect potential audiences of this movie.

The cast is all male because the whole story is a mise-en-scene, a play within a play, where all parts are acted by the prisoners for the sake of displaying truth to the Bishop. There is no pretense at making the men look like women except for the costumes and this enhances the message of the story. The actors are excellent and the impact of the story is powerful. Yes, this is a highly honored gay-themed film, but it is really more about the power of love both in youths and in thwarted adults that makes it a film for all audiences. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

Confused.

[Hunky Stud · 7/10 · 21 March 2001]

This movie has to be seen twice in order to understand it. Then the story line is not worth to be seen twice.

it was based on a play. The movie itself feels like another updated play. Viewers will get confused without all the explanations.

It is a confusing movie because the viewer was not advised about why there were males who act as females. for example, it is definitely not clear for why a male who dressed in woman's clothes was called "mother." And why there were sudden changes of the surroundings.

A play is mere a play, but for a movie, it should not be a mere play.

The story is sentimental, but the movie failed to portrait in a deep level.

Really Enjoyed

[jaowood33 · 8/10 · 20 July 2019]

Totally entranced by the story. Was beautifully and gently told, insightful about loves - all the different loves we have - parental love, child's love, romantic love, unrequited love, obsessive love, unselfish love. Visually well done on the story-within-the-story and kept my attention on the screen. All the performers were excellent.

One of the best films ever created

[fuxing626 · 10/10 · 30 May 2002]

This film is proof that some of the most iridescent, incredible films never make it to mainstream America. Barely anyone I know has even heard of this movie, and it's quite saddening. Although it has won numerous awards and lots of prestige in Canada, where it was made, I've often seen it lying on the shelf untouched at Blockbuster or gay film shops.

The movie begins with a prisoner named Simone who requests that a specific priest come to hear his confession. The priest, perplexed as to why he has been summoned, arrives at the prison, not knowing what to expect. It is soon divulged that the priest has some confessing of his own to be done when the prisoners trap him in his confessional box and begin to perform a play. This play is about Simone's childhood, when Simone was attending a Catholic all-boys boarding school and was in a gay relationship with his schoolmate, Valier. They keep their love clandestine until another schoolmate, Bilodeau (the priest as an adolescent), unearths something of what the two lovers have been doing. He confronts them about it, calling them a "disease," when it is revealed later that he is more insidious than they are.

Things take another dramatic turn when Simone's father discovers his son has kissed a boy and mutilates his body with a whip. Out of searing rage, Simone succombs to arson. A Parisian woman (who is portrayed by a male actor because the play is being performed by male prisoners) visits the schoool and falls in love with Simone. Despite the distinctely male features on her which expose the actor's gender, the he does an excellent job of emulating a pristine, romantic woman desperately seeking love.

Simone repudiates Valier, saying "it's time he started thinking about girls" and that he plans to marry the Parisian woman. Valier is devastated and runs to his mother, who is scorned by the rest of society because she believes herself to be a countess. She is shockingly compassionate and supportive when she learns of Valier's homosexuality. At the engagement banquet for Simone and his fiancee, Valier sabotages the celebration by dressing like a Greek God and reciting a monologue from the romantic Greek play he and his beloved were rehearsing together in the beginning of the film. And I can't tell you the rest. It'll ruin it. All I know is everyone should see this movie-especially gay Catholics. Incredible directing, eloquent dialogue, wonderfully abstract scenary-there's no way this movie could have been done better!

Quietly Stunning

[Twillhead · 10/10 · 13 September 2002]

This is a film of rare and astonishing brilliance, and unlike anything I personally have ever encountered before. It is exquisitely photographed and edited, and the acting is first rate all round. The all-male cast portraying both men and women might be off-putting for some, but it is performed so expertly that one forgets this detail - it is a film that magnificently transcends gender. In particular is Brent Carver's resplendent turn as the `mad countess,' the gentle, guileless mother of one of the young heroes. The story is a heartbreaking tale of love, jealousy, and ultimately, of Judgement Day, of the Day of Reckoning. That its storyline is about gay love should not put off heterosexual film goers, because the theme is timeless and universal. A bold and brilliant ‘must see.'

Haunting and beautiful...

[Tesse · 10/10 · 2 October 1999]

Everyone does things they would rather forget. Lilies is about one man's horrible sin returning to haunt him, 40 years after the fact. As a rash child, young Jean Bilodeau did all he could to seperate gay lovers Simon and Vallier- not for any high-minded moralistic reason, but out of his own jealousy and desire for Simon. 40 years later, Bilodeau and Simon meet again, and witness their history performed by prisoners in a Quebecois jail. What results is heartwrenching and beautiful.

The cinematography of Lilies is flawless, moving effortlessly between 1952 and 1912 with lush, vivid colours. The performances are also excellent, with Brent Carver a notable standout as Vallier's deluded mother (as the movie is a play set in a jail, we see the male prisoners perform all of the roles, including the female ones). Jason Cadieux and Danny Gilmore are beautiful as the young lovers going through the awkward pangs of adolesense, coming out, and first love. A truly beautiful movie for anyone who loves a good cinematic experience, I cannot recommend Lilies enough.

The most beautiful gay film ever

[ckmercuri · 19 August 2002]

This film stands out in my collection as the most beautiful gay love story on film so far. It's lyrical story-telling is accented by it's Romeo & Juliet-inspired forbidden love theme, while avoiding any political message that plagues today's current stream of gay love stories. With it's gorgeous location, haunting sound-track and surreal moments of simple tenderness, Lilies succeeds at simply being a beautiful film.

Brilliant! Why can't more gay films be like this?

[avidet · 7/10 · 20 March 2003]

The worst thing about this film was the marketing and distribution, which let this gem fall off the radar before anyone knew it was out. Here was finally a film that had depth, imagination and innovative story-telling instead of scantily-clad bucks mincing muscle with bad acting. Few films from the gay community have found this level of quality in production values as well as story. True, there were some flaws in the make-up that I won't mention in the interest of not spoiling the film. But if you have not seen this film, rent it and let your imagination be rewarded.

Achingly Beautiful...

[SamLowry-2 · 10/10 · 15 April 1999]

"Lilies" is an achingly beautiful work. The acting, cinematography, music and sets are stunning. The use of only male actors, including for female characters, seems right here. And in the final analysis, the best and worst of human emotion (especially concealed jealously) becomes so vividly portrayed that one is not sure whether to laugh, cry, or yell out with anger at the characters' actions. Anyone who considers themselves a "cinema buff" should put this one one their "must see" list. So, when does the DVD come out???

The Cake Fell

[harry-76 · 4/10 · 20 July 2000]

There's some flavor left, but the texture's gone flat. Kept in the oven too long, it's now tough and chewy instead of buoyant and supple. A bit of Genet-inspired writing in a quasi "Marat/Sade"-type setting, this enactment has its ups and downs, but decidely the downs win out. Possibly a good idea at some point, by completion time the bloom is gone, leaving long stretches of uneven and incoherent footage inducing alternating apathy and tedium.

Excellent cinematography, musical score, casting and story.

[bob-504 · 10/10 · 27 November 1999]

Luscious cinematography, soulful musical score, terrific casting, and limited use of revelatory flashbacks to dramatize the theme of societally-defined mores and criminal behavior. Artistic and judicious use of nudity and sexuality to illustrate the dilemmas of public versus private morality.

Pretentious and embarrassing

[dcannon · 1/10 · 7 February 2007]

I have a high tolerance for "serious" gay films, but this one is unforgivable. The story is preposterous; are we really expected to believe that a bishop could be held captive in a prison confessional and forced to watch a play that re-enacts a crucial event in his boyhood? The decision to have the women's roles played by men is just plain ridiculous. And the way it milks the cliché that love between men must always end in death and betrayal does nothing to advance gay cinema. The two boys, however, are quite pretty. But the actor playing the adult Simon bears no resemblance to the young Simon. As a boy, Simon has a peachy, creamy complexion; as an adult, he bears the obvious signs of severe acne. This is just one of many implausibilities in this deeply silly film.

Amazing use of "play" technique in a film.

[carford · 29 December 2002]

I have seen Lilies on more than one occasion, and am amazed each time at the intricate and ingenious use of the "theatrical" in the movie. When watching the movie from the beginning, it doesn't take a moron to realize that the "play" is being put on by inmates at a prison.

Staying true to the "setting" of the play, the movie uses males to play all roles, including the roles of women. It is unique as the characters in the "play" react and respond to the female roles as if they were women and not men playing women's roles.

There is an incredible depth to the movie that chronicles the life and love lost by Simone through the deception and lies of the "church." There is much more meaning here than just the plight of one man. The movie tell the story of many men and women around the world who are persecuted, imprisoned, and often sacrifice their lives for being true to their love of the same sex. It is good to see a movie that does not portray a same sex relationship as one of casual sex or one-night stands. The relationship is one of committment, of trust, of pain and caring, of going through the good and the bad together. Heterosexuals do not have the corner on good relationships. This movie tries to portray the love between two people and the struggles they faced, largely due to the intolerance and rigidity of the church.

Of a Shakespearian genre

[acearms · 10/10 · 8 October 2003]

A truly remarkable film. The characters are all played by males reminiscent of the days of Shakespeare. And what a delight to watch. I've seen it several times and am always impressed with the acting as well as the plot. This was a truly artistic endeavor above the traditional film making. One has to flow with the several roles to understand the interaction of the characters and appreciate the actors in those roles. Forget the gay aspect, and appreciate the brilliant acting and roles played out. Not a typical Hollywood mill production, but something with true artistry. A must see.

A haunting poetic tragic doomed love affair

[timleemail · 9/10 · 14 February 2001]

After a spate of disappointing gay films in the mid 90's, Lilies appeared from Canada as a fresh bouquet presenting a refreshing change of pace. Improving upon the play its based on, Lilies uses various cinematic conventions to its advantage, with cuts between prison re-enactments and the actual events given seamlessly and often artisticly breathtaking. The use of cross gender casting (this is an all male film) is humorous to a degree, but never in a mocking drag queen tone. We come to believe these men are really women. And the coming of age love story at the center of the plot, done to death by so many other films, is achingly tender.

It was once said that gay work has to have someone die in it and this film is no exception. But the deaths portrayed here and the long hidden betrayal finally revealed are handled quite effectively. The artifice involved only adds an extra layer of beauty upon the story. A remarkable acheivement.

An excellent, disturbing film, about love, revenge, and justice.

[westerner · 10/10 · 25 May 2000]

We find ourselves in Quebec, in 1952. The local Roman Catholic bishop has come to a local prison to hear the confession of a dying man, a man he knew in his childhood, that had been in prison for 40 years for committing some heinous crime.

When he gets there, the inmates, local chaplain, and prison guards imprison him, and force him to watch his former school-mate, who is not terminally ill, put on a play that re-creates the events that led to his imprisonment. This movie moves between the crude props and costumes made from scraps and rags and the elegant, wealthy past with flawless precision.

It's a story of a love gone awry, of twisted values, self loathing and lust, jealousy, murder, and vengeance.

Many may be put off by its overtly gay cast and story line, or the fact that male and female roles are played by men (as they were years ago, and still are in all-male schools overseas).

If one can get by these prejudices, and prejudices regarding what "gay behavior" is supposed to be (this movie has feminine and masculine acting men, in both gay and straight roles), this movie will keep you riveted to your seat.

The play's the thing wherein ....

[redodson · 10/10 · 26 October 1999]

.... I'll catch the conscience of the Bishop (to paraphrase Hamlet). 'Lilies' is a morality play about love, murder, and retribution - three themes that have dominated classical drama for millennia. But, although it borrows heavily from Shakespeare and classical Greek drama, 'Lilies' is in many ways new and experimental also. The manner in which the scenes of the hauntingly beautiful "imaginary" landscape of northern Quebec are interleaved with the somber gray of the "real" prison set in which the play within a play unfolds is nothing short of brilliant. I've never seen anything quite like it in a movie before.

The events that form the core of the play took place in Roberval, Quebec, in the summer of 1912: Two boys, Simon and Vallier, find themselves madly in love with each other while rehearsing a school production of "The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian." Their passion does not go unnoticed, however; Simon's father flogs him mercilessly, and their schoolmate Bilodeau watches them with increasing envy. In a final fit of rage when Simon rebuffs him, Bilodeau exacts a horrible revenge on the two lovers. Justice eventually catches up with Bilodeau, however, when he is held hostage in the local prison and forced to watch a play (written by Simon and performed by the inmates) that depicts the events of that fateful summer forty years earlier.

I really can't find much to fault about this movie - other than it's length - at only 90 minutes, it seemed too short. For the most part, the acting was superb, with special notice going to Brent Carver as the piteous Countess de Telly. In many ways his portrayal of her reminded me of an aging Ophelia, and one soon forgets that he is a man playing a woman's role. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate 'Lilies' at 9.5. It is definitely a movie that should be viewed more than once.

Awful in so many different ways....

[bijou-2 · 1/10 · 9 April 2006]

This is the sort of pretentious crap that has killed art-house cinema. The fact that the players speak English makes it more criminal to hear dialogue that appears to have been written in French and then sloppily translated. The actors speak like they are reading bad subtitles and are therefore forced to speak some very idiotic sentences indeed.

The young actors are pretty but surprisingly sexless. They come across like twelve year old girls, not mature enough to pretend they have any of these feelings. This is stressed even more by the casting of older men in female roles, at once an insult to women and to gay men.

Any film in soft focus is considered "beautiful" today and this one is particularly ugly with fantastic scenery badly photographed and endless shots of lakes and cottages that add nothing to the setting. The prison scenes are strictly 1960's bad theater of the absurd.

This play on film presents a convoluted jilted lover plot worthy of a daytime soap pretending it is saying something important about homophobia. Indeed who is the true villain here? The jealous lover who killed for his love and became a priest in his atonement or the selfish and closeted Simone, who was dumping his true love after one beating from dad. It is Simone who is the sinner here but the writer would rather not see that and blames some smitten waiter for all the crimes of humanity. Apparently Simone paid for his real sins by ageing really badly, a punishment only a gay man would understand.

Even with it's drag queen women and naked girly-boys, LILIES is not good gay cinema. But it sure is queer.

Beautiful, heartwrenching, well-acted.

[KylieRempel · 9/10 · 31 December 2019]

I love this movie so much. It is one of my all time favourite films. The transitions to and from the framing device are imaginative and well-shot.

The three leads in the flashback narrative are amazing. Really everyone does an excellent job acting in their unisex world.

The love story is tender and full of young heartache. The use of the recurring St. Sebastian monologues is always moving. In many ways the film is very evocative of old school, hardcore Catholic Québeçois values and the toxic environment that can engender.

Danny Gilmore is so lovingly bathed in light in this film. The way his finely boned physique is captured in the bath scene with the water and leaves is striking.

I don't know how to describe this movie except as Romeo and Juliet between 2 men reenacted as a confessional play in a men's prison if Romeo and Juliet's tragedy was replaced with that of St. Sebastian with a hint of Iago's jealousy from Othello.

Just go watch it.

All Over The Place Definitively forgettable And not Quiet Objective!

[javierubio · 5/10 · 4 July 2020]

I was amazed how many people gave 10 rating to this movie. this is one of those movies that so much drama happens and still trying to pick up the pieces about what is the real matter of this non sense film! And now the fact that some men acted as a woman was cheesy, and out of context , is like picture the Director trying to deliver a great story but only in his subjective mind because honestly was all over the place!

Beautiful and moving movie

[kinophil-1 · 1 December 2004]

I am writing mainly because the one comment I saw on this site was negative. I just watched the movie and it was gorgeous. Gorgeous scenery. Gorgeous men. Wonderful music. Jason Cadieux is gorgeous beyond words.

The movie is quite obviously set in a prison where there would be a lack of women. It is quite artistic. The use of men to play women is both campy, and artsy, hearkening back to Shakespeare. It is not done to get laughs however.

The twist in the movie is that the man who is to give his confession, hears a confession. It ends in a way that you must make up your mind about the punishment.

An excellent film experience

[Leoninsac · 10/10 · 25 February 1999]

The cinematography work in this movie is second rate to no film of any length or cost. I found this film so beautiful that I was on the edge of my seat all three times I saw it (in one week). The film is of a play performed in a Canadian prison to force a confession from a visitor and to achieve retribution for an innocent prisoner. It is a love story of the caliber of Romeo and Juliet with Danny Gilmore as the ethereal Vallier who falls in love with beautiful young tough Simon portrayed by Jason Cadieux. Their relationship is doomed by a young Bilodeau (Matthew Ferguson) who is himself madly in love with Simon and professes his love to Simon only to have him laugh in his face. Bilodeau unable to accept that Simon has fallen for the 'Lily White' fairie acts rashly and decisively to end their relationship. So as not to spoil the film, know that Simon and Bilodeau are reunited as older adults who are forced to face the truth of their youth. The ending will not surprise you, but you will be impressed by the camera work and talents of these actors that are unknown in America. This film is highly recommended for homosexual audiences and film students.

The Iago's of the World Never Win

[nycritic · 9/10 · 25 May 2006]

Never trust a confession that a childhood friend wants to make to you because more than likely it comes with an entire onslaught of a carefully planned stage adaptation of the reason he hates you so much. That's the blueprint for Michel Marc Bouchard's play of the same name. It at first looked, to me, to be a little stylized, like some of Marguerite Duras' short novels -- "The Ravishment of Lol Stein" for example -- but once the movie takes off, a thing that happens quite immediately, it draws you in.

A seamless transition from past events and the present, staged events in the prison facility where the older Bilodeau, now a Bishop, has gone to hear this confession, makes the entirety of the movie. LILIES evolves with the surety of a mystery even when we know something pretty bad has happened between the Bishop and the prisoner Simon who hates his guts, but it's like a marvelous puzzle worth solving -- you can't turn away.

It seems, in 1912, two boys loved each other very much. Simon and Vallier were carefree, mindless of what anyone else would think. Played by the young Canadian actors Jason Cadieux and Danny Gilmore, they look perfectly matched and complement each other, Cadieux being the more masculine and therefore dominant, Gilmore being the feminine, more malleable and romantic man, desperately and unabashedly in love.

But, as it goes with people in love (regardless the gender, I will always state that), there is always a monkey wrench. That is Bilodeau, a man with his own designs on Simon, who the very thought of him kissing another man drives him crazy with rage and who bellows left and right that the two of them are involved in something "sick and evil". Played by Matthew Ferguson, he makes you literally hate this character: his manic glee in denouncing their love, his "prayers" that Simon see the "error of his ways" are only matched by what I recall being Winona Ryder's ferocious performance in THE CRUCIBLE or Bonita Granville's openly evil character in THESE THREE.

In Bilodeau the film has its villain even when in the middle of the movie his character somewhat stands by the sidelines and watches the progressive separation between Simon and Vallier due to other circumstances. The arrival of a personality, Lydie-Anne (played by Alexander Chapman), and her subsequent engagement to Simon throws in a deeper wrench -- she is unaware of Simon's true desires, and even more unaware that Bilodeau is conspiring to do some grievous harm. Alexander Chapman is pretty compelling to watch as this socialite: I couldn't see a man in drag as much as a brittle woman who knew her way around people; seeing him play his male counterpart as events shift back to the present is watching a completely different person altogether.

The same can't go for Brent Carver who plays another prison inmate and the Countess de Lilly. As the Countess he comes across at times as a more subdued Katharine Hepburn in THE African QUEEN, but also as a man in drag. Even so, his is an interesting character to see because it requires a lot of control not to chew scenery when the opportunity presents itself -- which is often, especially in a scene involving some pretty sharp dialog exchanges with Chapman. Even so, his death scene is very moving, more so due to the circumstances in which it takes place. That it makes Valliers's and Simon's bond stronger is compelling.

Where I believe the movie -- and probably the play; I haven't read it so I must assume the movie is faithful to the material -- fails is at its climax. While I'm not surprised at the revelation of who the Bishop is -- many "men of the cloth" are little more than perverts usurping as the Voice of God because they can't face their own realities -- his own punishment comes off as vague. It's as if the movie didn't know how to exact justice against him. In my world, the Bishop would have been tormented until the skin would have peeled off his body -- eye for an eye. But maybe it's best to leave him alone. I can see why Simon even then wouldn't allow himself to dirty his hands with such human garbage. It would be best to let Life take care of this type of person; they always die alone and riddled with their inner cancer.

LILIES is a compelling watch. I loved its passion, its fearlessness in representing gay love, even at the moment of tragedy. Coming nine years prior to BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN it should share the honor of being a movie that was aimed at an audience ready to accept men professing love to each other, free of self-loathing and cultural constraints.

I love this movie so much

[Gooberz · 10/10 · 30 January 2023]

This is actually my favorite movie I've ever watched, It's just so good.. The concept of the movie in general is interesting, The main plot is that a Priest is coming into a prison to hear a confession from an inmate. However it turns out that the Priest and the inmate knew each other from back when they were young adults, the rest of the prisoners lock the priest inside the confessional booth with the inmate and, as an act of revenge, the inmate (Simon) forces him to sit through a play put on by the other inmates acting out their past together, making it so the priest (Bilodeau) has to spend the rest of his life remembering the things he did to Simon.

The story that's acted out by the prisoners is beautiful, it features a young Simon, his boyfriend Vallier, and Bilodeau. Both Simon and Bilodeau are struggling with their homosexuality - Simon embraces it until beaten into repressing it. A female French aristocrat is flying into town and upon arrival quickly takes a liking to Simon. Simon uses her interest as a way to repress his homosexuality and love for Vallier.

Bilodeau is the opposite, at the beginning he represses his homosexuality and love for Simon, until embracing it during the later parts of the film.

Their stories are complete opposites to each other, which makes it interesting watching two people evolve in two different but similar ways.

Vallier, the boyfriend of Simon, loses his only love he's ever had to the Aristocrat and spends the runtime of the film struggling to accept that him and Simon can't and shouldn't be together. Just as he begins to finally accept it, Simon ends up coming around and begins embracing his homosexuality and love for Vallier again.

It's such a beautiful story and I love it, this is my favorite movie ever.

A must see for gay men.

[forstevekc · 9/10 · 20 November 2000]

Okay, I will explain my summary. This movie is not about being gay, as are most films whose principal characters are. The characters are not what straight cinema normally portrays us to be either. The story is broader than that, there is a purpose in bringing us into these mens lives. I was reminded of how intense love was, how consuming and selfless youthful love can be. However, those feelings were contrasted with memories of vengefulness of unrequited loves gone by too. Straight or gay you will enjoy this film.