Reviews

Les Témoins|The Witnesses

Seraphim in France

By GERALD PEARY | February 15, 2008

3.0 Stars

LES TÉMOINS: You could subtitle this one Seraphim in France.

Among an elder generation of French filmmakers, those who paid their dues as critics for Cahiers du Cinéma, André Téchiné is the most prominent in dealing with gay themes, as in Les innocents (1987) and Les roseaux sauvages|Wild Reeds (1994). Les témoins is the absorbing story of Manu (Johan Libéreau), a beautiful young man who, arriving in Paris, wreaks havoc with his sexuality, rejecting the love of Adrien (Michel Blanc), a middle-aged medical doctor, and bringing out of the closet Mehdi (Sami Bouajila), a vice cop with a writer wife (Emmanuelle Béart) and a new baby. The first half of the film is a fairly upbeat exploration of open relations, gay and straight. The second half shuts these down: it’s 1984, an unnamed virus has hit the gay community, and one day lesions appear on Manu’s body. Téchiné brings us back to the dreadful dawn of AIDS. Think of Angels in America — this suddenly sad, chilling film could be subtitled Seraphim in France. French | 112 minutes | Kendall Square

Topics: Reviews , Culture and Lifestyle, GLBT Issues, Special Interest Groups, More

| More

See more deals

view all

[ 05/26 ] "A Natural Order," photographs by Lucas Foglia @ David Winton Bell Gallery

[ 05/26 ] George Orwell's 1984, adapted by Nick Lane @ Gamm Theatre

[ 05/26 ] "2012 RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition" @ Rhode Island Convention Center

ARTICLES BY GERALD PEARY

REVIEW: I WISH | May 22, 2012
Two elementary school brothers living in southern Japan are forced to live in different cities due to the estrangement of their parents.

REVIEW: SURVIVING PROGRESS | May 15, 2012
Despite prestigious talking heads like Margaret Atwood, Jane Goodall, and Stephen Hawking, there is nothing new here beyond what every conscientious liberal already knows is wrong with the world.

REVIEW: HEADHUNTERS | May 08, 2012
Roger (Aksel Hennie) is an Oslo yuppie with a gorgeous, blonde wife, a top-drawer job as a corporate headhunter, and a lucrative side employment stealing fancy paintings.

REVIEW: ELLES | May 08, 2012
How did the Polish filmmaker Malgoska Szumowska dupe the classy Juliette Binoche to participate in such a dubious, exploitative film?

REVIEW: THIS IS NOT A FILM | May 01, 2012
It can't be a film, because the acclaimed director Jafar Panahi ( The Circle , etc.) has been ordered not to make any by the Iranian theocrats who have also sentenced the dissident filmmaker to an upcoming jail sentence.