Robin Campillo's odd, moving and surprising immigrant love story -- EASTERN BOYS

One of the many things I love about the films of Robin Campillo (shown at right) is how interested he is in all his characters. As a writer/director, he's made two fine films: this new one and They Came Back, one of the most unusual zombie movies of all time in which the undead return and instead of feasting on human flesh, simply want their jobs and homes and loved ones back again. As screenwriter-only, Campillo has given us three terrific films: Time Out, Heading South and The Class, all of which, whatever plot is involved, once again help us understand the situation and needs of the various characters we meet -- to the point at which we are no longer so easily able to take sides.

In his new film EASTERN BOYS, he begins with a gay pick-up in and around the Parisian railway station Gare du Nord, below, of a young man (an Eastern European immigrant) by a middle-aged well-off Parisian. Where this initial assignation leads and how it gets there prove anything but the usual scenario of so many of our gay-themed films. The resulting movie is a beautiful, subdued knockout (although its penultimate scene is quite exciting and would not be out of place in a suspense thriller) -- once again, because we come to understand so well the situation and needs of so many of these characters, we find ourselves identifying with both victims and the so-called villains.

M. Campillo is here tackling several themes -- immigration (which is as hot-button a topic in France as it is all over Europe and America), survival, gay life, and the buying and selling of sex and "love." His take on all of these are what you might expect from a filmmaker as attuned to life as he is to art: realistic but aware of the ways in which need and desire can cloud intelligent thinking.

Our protagonists are played by two actors who give indelible performances: Marek (later to be known as Rouslan) is played by Kirill Emenyanov (above, left),  a young actor who has performed a bit in Russian television and film, here making his western debut; as Daniel, Olivier Rabourdin (below, left) is a French actor I've seen numerous times without really noticing him -- something that I doubt will ever happen again.

Both actors come to life about as fully and beautifully as you could want, especially given Campillo's insistence on not offering up much exposition. He allows the two men to fill in their own characters via behavior -- and they absolutely do this. Each man takes an unexpected course and brings it to believable, pulsating life.

We also get to know the group of young men (one of them particularly young) of whom Marek is one, especially the gang's leader, played by Daniil Vorobyov (above, center), a nasty character whom we initially hate -- until we begin to understand him and his odd situation, as well.

As Campillo moves from the study of a group situation into the specifics of a relationship and back again, we begin to understand things more fully. While I might have wanted a bit more explanation by the older man to the younger of why and how their relationship is changing, thanks to the fine performances I am willing to buy into all this and finally go with the filmmaker's desire for less exposition.

As also is usual in the work of this artist, Campillo offers up a look at class and economics via the haves and have-nots. As is also usual, the filmmaker does not indict the entitled Frenchman simply because he has been given what he has. Instead, it's what he does with this that counts.

Eastern Boys -- from First Run Features; 128 minutes; in French, Russian and English, with English subtitles as needed --  which I expect will appear on a few best-of-year lists come the close of 2015, opens theatrically this Friday, February 27, in New York City at the FSLC's Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, in New Orleans on March 6 and the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, and in Vancouver on April 17 at the Vancity Theater. Click here to see any further scheduled updates as they are booked.

Here's a new male sex symbol: John Turturro & Woody Allen star in Turturro's FADING GIGOLO

Who'd have thought it? John Turturro as the sexiest guy currently on theater screens (well, starting this Friday, at least). It's true. In the new movie FADING GIGOLO, the actor/director plays a part-time florist named Fioravante, whose friend and mentor, Murray (Woody Allen), begins pimping him out as a by-the-hour lover to wealthy women in need. If this sounds a little skeevy and untoward, it turns out not to be -- for a couple of good reasons. Number one is Mr. Turturro himself, who brings such warmth, kindness, honesty and -- yes -- quiet, non-pushy sex appeal to the table (and bed) that he wins you over rather spectacularly. Number two: the prostitute here is an adult male, strong but never threatening, which removes from the equation the usual fear for the welfare of the female hooker, should she encounter a dangerous john.

Oh, and did I mention that the movie is a comedy? It's often a pretty funny one, too, what with Mr. Allen playing himself (while simultaneously giving you the opportunity to see him as the little sleaze you may imagine him to be) and delivering a number of his usual funny one-liners. As writer/director, Turturro (shown above) outdoes much of Allen's work hands down. He's more interested in visuals and composition than Woody ever was (though his cameramen sometimes were).

As a writer -- are all those lines out of Allen's mouth Turturro's creations? -- the filmmaker offers up a story that explores current and important themes: the continuing disappearance of jobs and how regular folk might earn a living off something besides health care, part-time labor and those mostly non-existent corporate profits and other investments that seem to accrue only to the 99 per cent.

When Murray's dermatologist (Sharon Stone, above) remarks casually that one of her friends (Sophia Vergara, shown at bottom) and she would like a threesome, if only they knew a willing guy, Murray goes into action and up comes Fioravante, eventually servicing these gals like a pro -- only better. Ms Stone is back to looking like the glamour gal we remember, rather than the very interesting character roles she's been doing of late (Lovelace, Alpha Dog), while Ms Vergara does her usual vah-vah-voom with expected relish.

The real female surprise of the movie is Vanessa Paradis, at right, who seems to consistently surprise with each new role (compare her work in this film with that of Café de Flore and Heartbreaker). Here she plays Avigal -- a Hasidic widow, depressed and ripe for release -- and she brings to the movie its strongest performance and a character worth knowing. The role also allows us to meet her unasked-for protector, a local cop in the Brooklyn Hasidic neighborhood, played well, as always, by Liev Schreiber (below, right, manhandling Mr. Allen), who brings his own brand of pushy strength to the proceedings, nicely counteracting Turturro's quieter model.

Sure, the movie's not great (it's somehow too thin for that) and yet, scene for scene, there's not a ringer in the bunch. Performances are too on-target not to keep us glued, while the writing is generally clever enough to have our ears alert and the direction visually interesting so that our eyes don't tire.

It is particularly good to see Mr. Allen in someone else's movie once again (this doesn't happen often), and it's always good to see Turturro in just about anything (he's appearing again soon in a supporting role in the dark comedy/drama, God's Pocket -- more of which in the days to come). The accompanying music is well-chosen and delivered, and technically everything is up to snuff.

Fading Gigolo, from Millennium Entertainment, opens this Friday, April 18, in New York City at the City Cinema 1,2,3; at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the Angelika Film Center.  In the Los Angeles area, the film will show at The Landmark and Pacific's ArcLight Hollywood.

Straight-to-DVD: Gaël Morel's bizarre but full-frontal gay melodrama, OUR PARADISE

TrustMovies has been a fan of the work of actor/writer/
director Gaël Morel since Full Speed and Three Dancing Slaves (aka Le Clan). What he has enjoyed most is the off-center quality Morel brings to his films, along with the ability to capture reality his way and make it work, tantali-zing us to bring it all together in our own minds. With his new film OUR PARADISE (Notre paradis), Morel has written and directed perhaps his most accessible movie so far in terms of a straight-on plot line that leaves few dots unconnected and little that one's own imagination might have to fill in. And, yes, this does have its drawbacks.

Surely M. Morel, shown at right, has more on his mind than this movie lets on? Perhaps. Or maybe not. What we see before us is a kind of love story between two men, one in his late 30s or early 40s, the other barely out of his teens. They connect in a manner in which the older must help the younger, so that gratitude, leavened with lust, leads to desire and eventually something approaching love. That the older man, Vassili, is played by Stéphane Rideau (below, left, and further below, right) -- a veteran of Morel's earlier work (as well as other films: Come Undone, Ozon's Sitcom, and his 1994 screen debut in Téchiné's Wild Reeds) now nearly 20 years older and still a good actor, highly attractive and sexually alluring -- makes for an easy watch.

The young man, who decides to call himself Angelo, is played by newcomer Dimitri Durdaine (above, right, and below, left), and he makes a great foil -- from  looks to acting chops -- for M. Rideau. When, in one love scene, the older man remarks on the younger's soft skin, I swear you'll imagine that you can feel that peau douce. The two make a lovely pair -- except for one thing: Vassili is a psychopath, who kills the older men with whom he has sex (sometimes without even giving these poor guys a good time).

I'm not dropping much of a spoiler here, as we see this going on from the very first scene. Angelo does not learn of Vassili's modus operandi for a little while, and when he finds out, yes, it does trouble him. He makes his amour promise not to really hurt the fellows with whom they then have threesomes, but, heck, Vassili just can't help himself (one of the results can be seen below).

M. Morel generally does not rub our noses in the blood and guts, but he lets us know pretty clearly what has happened. He also gives up plenty of sex scenes, full-frontal, in twosomes, threesomes (below and further below), and a near foursome.

So the film is indeed a turn-on, and since the performances are, to a man (and woman) quite good, this will not be a case of your watching Our Paradise simply for the sexy bits.

So, then, what's the problem? It is not with Rideau's performance, for the actor creates a character who is welcoming, warm, sexy and caring, so far as Angelo is concerned. Otherwise he's a full-blown narcissist whom you know will turn on anyone he thinks has betrayed him. Unfortunately, betrayal, in his eyes, seems mostly a matter of disagreement.

When an unusual circumstance arises -- in the form of a john who managed to survive Vassili's attack -- the lovers must get out of town. They return to a childhood haunt of the older man, where they meet up with an former friend, played by the ever-effervescent Béatrice Dalle (above and below, and as beautiful and transgressive, if a bit quieter now, as when she played Betty Blue). She lives with her mom and a young son, who takes quite a fancy to his new friends (and they to him).

A visit to Vassili's old (in fact, his first) john, with the little boy in tow and later the kid's mom, brings the movie to its not unexpected close. As I say, most everything here is straight-ahead and on-course. What's missing is both the quirky surprise and full-bodied personality that more complete characterization might provide. We may see all of their outside (and in the case, of young Durdaine, it's quite ample) but of their insides, their mindsets, their histories, we get very little.

While some of the satellites that circle around our twosome are energized and show potential, Vassili and Angelo themselves -- for all the skill of the actors and despite the bizarre, pathological situation at the movie's center -- are not explored nearly fully enough by the screenplay and so remain two-dimensional.

Our Paradise (unrated, in French with English subtitles, and running 100 minutes), from Breaking Glass Pictures' QC Cinema collection, hits the street this Tuesday, February 19, for sale or rental.  I would imagine that streaming and VOD possibilities might transpire at some point soon.