I saw this film at the Ghent (Belgium) film festival 2013, where it was part of the official Competition. Young and middle aged men, slim and fat(ter) men, not all of them with obvious good looks, all around a lake in France that is well known as a gay cruising place. People come there to meet, at first on the beach watching and showing, often withdrawing later discretely in the bushes, either alone to cruise or in pairs to have various forms of sex. They only know each other by their first names, and have little intent to form a long lasting relationship. In other words, this is very-casual sex of the gay kind, a world we know not much about other than some fragmented descriptions. At least, I knew nothing about what this world looked like. This movie has me updated on my general knowledge, of course thereby safely assuming that what we saw reflects reality.
Despite all the above, when relationships get closer, chances that some form of jealousy creeps in are just as big as in hetero relations. Even speaking with others on the beach, however brief, is watched closely and interrupted when it takes too long. Maybe jealousy can be even worse here, but the story at hand may well be a-typical and possibly far from the norm.
A considerable part of the running time is devoted to showing us how this cruising world-in-a-world operates, while simultaneously zooming in on a time bomb that is growing before our eyes, only waiting to explode in everyone's face. The tension builds up evenly over time, even while knowing all along that no good can come out of this. The characters are introduced nicely, so we get some bit of an idea who they are and what their purpose is here in this particular part of France. The plot takes off with a murder in the beginning, leading to several murders in the end, and in between we see the fatal path paved step by step.
The film makers could not (probably wanted not) avoid including a certain amount of gay sex in various shapes and forms, given the circumstances. It is not shown to the extent that we can mark is as hard core porn, but some of the scenes are beyond soft, and little is left to our imagination. Those who are unable to bear gay sex scenes in full color, better not book tickets for this movie, since there are more than a few of these, plus several doses of full frontal nudity before and after the action. Maybe I did not pay enough attention, but I did not spot ANY woman in this film, so be prepared for a 100% male experience.
The finale is indeed exploding in our face, condensed in the last 5 to 10 minutes, and the consequences are very fatal for some of our semi-main characters, though the ending leaves open what happens with the real main characters Franck and Michel. But we can only assume that their fate is not much better.
All in all, though obviously not everyone's cup of tea, the inside view in a cruising place like this is worth while. And the story never gets really boring, due to the mix of characters involved, gay in majority, but not all of them. The film makers did a fine job.
Despite all the above, when relationships get closer, chances that some form of jealousy creeps in are just as big as in hetero relations. Even speaking with others on the beach, however brief, is watched closely and interrupted when it takes too long. Maybe jealousy can be even worse here, but the story at hand may well be a-typical and possibly far from the norm.
A considerable part of the running time is devoted to showing us how this cruising world-in-a-world operates, while simultaneously zooming in on a time bomb that is growing before our eyes, only waiting to explode in everyone's face. The tension builds up evenly over time, even while knowing all along that no good can come out of this. The characters are introduced nicely, so we get some bit of an idea who they are and what their purpose is here in this particular part of France. The plot takes off with a murder in the beginning, leading to several murders in the end, and in between we see the fatal path paved step by step.
The film makers could not (probably wanted not) avoid including a certain amount of gay sex in various shapes and forms, given the circumstances. It is not shown to the extent that we can mark is as hard core porn, but some of the scenes are beyond soft, and little is left to our imagination. Those who are unable to bear gay sex scenes in full color, better not book tickets for this movie, since there are more than a few of these, plus several doses of full frontal nudity before and after the action. Maybe I did not pay enough attention, but I did not spot ANY woman in this film, so be prepared for a 100% male experience.
The finale is indeed exploding in our face, condensed in the last 5 to 10 minutes, and the consequences are very fatal for some of our semi-main characters, though the ending leaves open what happens with the real main characters Franck and Michel. But we can only assume that their fate is not much better.
All in all, though obviously not everyone's cup of tea, the inside view in a cruising place like this is worth while. And the story never gets really boring, due to the mix of characters involved, gay in majority, but not all of them. The film makers did a fine job.