The film held my attention, because it is so completely outside a Western way of life, so for me it was almost of anthropological interest. But how much of what we saw is really the way things are, and how much was seen through a prism? So many of the people in the film seem to express everything with a total economy of words. It is hard to imagine the main character becoming the author he supposedly did, because he barely expresses anything verbally throughout most of the film. One doesn't get a sense of playfulness within the family. Just tensions and conflict... and a total lack of real communication.
I was beginning to wonder if this is really a national characteristic - until the one moment when we see a bunch of kids playing on the beach which made me feel that this family was not typical at all.Eventually this slow, plodding, SILENCE for so much of the film wore down my interest. Near the end, a French lover asks the now-grown boy to explain why he doesn't want to be lovers any more; his answer is "I told you in my letter". But we never know WHAT was in the letter, and this is finally the real failure for me of the film. Too much is left for the audience to imagine, without any help from the film-maker.
The only part which I truly liked was the meetings with various men. The way one looked at him you could feel his desire,it was palpable; with a second, the boy's need for tenderness and a shy affection was truly sweet, and the exact opposite of sheer lust. They were the most believable moments in the film. If I have given it a score of 5 - it is partly because it is an enigma which is interesting despite itself. But technically, an almost immobile camera and overly long takes which would have been better with editing made it hard to go higher.
I was beginning to wonder if this is really a national characteristic - until the one moment when we see a bunch of kids playing on the beach which made me feel that this family was not typical at all.Eventually this slow, plodding, SILENCE for so much of the film wore down my interest. Near the end, a French lover asks the now-grown boy to explain why he doesn't want to be lovers any more; his answer is "I told you in my letter". But we never know WHAT was in the letter, and this is finally the real failure for me of the film. Too much is left for the audience to imagine, without any help from the film-maker.
The only part which I truly liked was the meetings with various men. The way one looked at him you could feel his desire,it was palpable; with a second, the boy's need for tenderness and a shy affection was truly sweet, and the exact opposite of sheer lust. They were the most believable moments in the film. If I have given it a score of 5 - it is partly because it is an enigma which is interesting despite itself. But technically, an almost immobile camera and overly long takes which would have been better with editing made it hard to go higher.
