Three Dancing Slaves (2004) User Reviews

A developed aesthetic in an underdeveloped director

[grahamclarke · 5/10 · 12 February 2006]

Director Gael Morel debuted as a young actor in Andre Techine's excellent "Wild Reeds". In it he plays a teenage boy who develops an obsessive passion for a young Frenchman of North African descent, played by Stephane Rideau; Rideau being something of a prototype of the exotic, masculine male in question, (though in "Three Dancing Slaves" he has clearly outgrown the boyish stage.) In retrospect it's safe to guess that Techine cast him in such a role, having knowledge of Morel's own passion for the fore mentioned type. Morel films as a director are clearly dominated by this passion, overshadowing his treatment of the elements of story and character development which are somewhat lacking in his movies this far.

Morel is true to himself is expressing his personal fascination with the specific male type in question. "Three Dancing Slaves" abounds in images of the actors in various states of dress and undress, filmed with great care and with a genuine love for the form. It's a very specific gay aesthetic, expertly executed and one that will resound with those who share Morel's particular tastes.

Yet Morel aspires to more as a filmmaker and so he should. "Three Dancing Slaves" reveals moments of promise but ultimately falls short in most areas. His future as a movie director of merit will depend on his own development as an artist and his ability to bring his passion to the screen as an integral and balanced part of his work.

Despite the inherent weakness of the the film, "Three Dancing Slaves" does at least mark Morel as a possible talent to watch.

Misalliances

[gradyharp · 7/10 · 16 January 2006]

Gaël Morel (Wild Reeds, Under Another Sky, Full Speed) seems to continue to test cinematic minefields and while not every film is a success, they each indicate that there is a reservoir of talent in this writer/actor/director that will eventually galvanize into to a significant voice. This much maligned little tale 'Le Clan' (oddly but in the end appropriately titled in English 'Three Dancing Slaves') has more going for it than most audiences acknowledge: for all its weakness there are some very sensitive moments about father/son relationships, filial love, romantic love, racism, bigotry, and the ever-growing dysfunctional family problem.

Three brothers live with their recently widowed father in a small town near the Alps in France. Marc (Nicolas Cazalé) is a rebellious youth, into drugs and petty crime and at constant contention with his overbearing father (Bruno Lochet); Christophe (Stéphane Rideau) is recently released from prison and is trying to live straight by starting from the bottom in a pork factory and working his way to the top; Olivier (Thomas Dumerchez) is the youngest and though tattooed and quasi-rebellious is the sensitive one whose gender issues are just beginning to focus. The film is told in three versions, one by each brother, and from these segments we paste together a family disrupted and needy. Marc fights and performs dangerous deeds, Christophe struggles to re-create his broken life, and Olivier finds love and passion with Hicham (Salim Kechiouche), Marc's friend, who is North African and repeatedly dances the capoeira, a slave dance, for his own expression and his need to connect with Olivier. Despite the differences in these young men there are repeated encounters that signify their bonding. One quiet scene shows the father awake, sitting and watching the troubled sons asleep, naked, entwined in each other's bodies: it should be clipped for a still shot as it is very beautiful.

There really is little resolution of an overall story; these three short stories simply end in their own fashion and the interlocking meaning is left to the viewer. Each brother is a 'slave' in his own manner. Yes, there are moments of violence, a pitiful animal abuse scene, and gaps in dialogue that bump the film around in a clumsy fashion, but look for the little moments of visual beauty and the movie takes on different meaning. In French with English subtitles. Grady Harp

Convincing Acting, but Poor Plot Progression

[cosmicsoul477 · 7/10 · 8 March 2006]

This movie exhibited wonderful filmography, surprisingly convincing performances and gorgeous young men. Where this film was lacking tremendously was the plot. Even though it had so much potential, it's execution was haphazard, and too much time was spent on unnecessary scenes, so toward the end it felt rushed, and the relationship between Olivier (Thomas Dumerchez) and Hicham (Salim Kechiouche) if it were developed more deeply, would have made for a wonderful film. Finally, the ending left me lacking as if it would continue next week. In other words, the entire film felt like an episode in a larger series. It felt unresolved; unfinished. And the extended Soliloquy, conveyed in the form of letters written to Christophe (I believe) certainly did not make up for a proper ending. That really frustrated me.

An effort that aspires...but falls short......

[russ453 · 4/10 · 22 January 2006]

I believe this film aspired to tell us something, but I can't say that I discovered it in the course of viewing. To guess along with some other reviewers, perhaps the director wanted to show a realistic depiction of the despair and turmoil in the a family destabilized by the death of a parent and the effect on the survivors? But my question is - what is it about this director's way of telling the story that makes this film unique? Or different? I learn nothing from this film and come away asking 'why was this film made?' Perhaps this film resonates differently in its home market (France?) than in the U.S, but I can understand why most US audiences would be disinterested: the English title :Le Clan" mystifies me - (a translation issue perhaps? whatever - a poor choice for the US market) and besides the uninteresting theme, there is poor story development, gaps in some of the story that leave one groping for "what happened?" and an odd final scene: the ending of the film is just plain strange.

The production team clearly had higher ambitions than an eye-candy film (and the homo-erotic visuals aren't bad) but the subject matter is largely depressing and the story itself poorly developed; i was never drawn into the brother's plight, their individual stories, or a sense of what their lives hold for them in the future. Despite the failures, there is one bright spot in Salim Kericouche, who is excellent, His character plays a friend of the family(Hachim) and it is through his eyes most of the story is told. The sub-plot of Hachim's affair with youngest brother Olivier was well done, but late in the film and inadequately explored. The final scene of the film of Olivier meeting the flying instructor and going into the cabin left me mystified; I'm not sure what it meant (???) I would like to rate this one higher, but I feel a bit generous giving it 4 stars out of a possible 10...

homo erotic but with politics and brains

[jaibo · 8/10 · 24 May 2005]

This is the story of 3 working class brothers, living with a weak father in the aftermath of their mother's death. The film is formally divided into 3 sections, one for each brother, although the protagonist remains the first brother we explore, Marc, a tortured soul.

CONTAINS SPOILERS Marc is an interesting character, unable because of his position in a macho subculture to access his feelings, even though he often shows the potential to be a caring individual. When he is beaten up by some local thugs and his dog killed, he takes a revenge which rebounds on him, leaving him paralysed, machismo is paralysing being the point.

The most interesting section of the film has the older brother Christophe's taking a job in a meat factory. He soon rises in his bosses' estimation and is promoted. On the way he has learned that to survive in the workplace, one has to be ruthless. We last see Christophe with a girlfriend and a future. We know that he has achieved that future by accepting his part in a dehumanising world. It is no coincidence that he has been released from a spell in prison at the play's start. Prison has tamed him, he has agreed to conform, he takes his place amongst the dead meat, he is rewarded.

The film is strongly homo erotic and the camera spends its time dwelling on the brother's bodies, especially Marc who is exceptionally attractive (making it all the more tragic when he body is crushed. I have read a po-faced review which says that this reduced its characters to sex objects. This is telling about a certain type of Puritanism. Many young working class men are beautiful and indescribably sexy - the film puts this at the centre of the equation, so as not to geld the subject.

In any case, there is a narrative excuse for the camera's gaze: the story is seen through the eyes of a family friend, who is gay and eventually has a brief affair with the youngest brother, Olive. The affair ends abruptly. The film is no Queer as Folk fantasy. Olive retreats from a love affair in which his femininity can be expressed sexually and freely to become Marc's carer, his femininity giving him his dead mother's place in the family and so becoming helpful, familiar, imprisoned. His lover "escapes" to a "free" urban life in Paris, where people merely want to exploit him for sex. The choices given the film's characters are bleak.

Le Clan is slow and elliptical in narrative terms but eventually becomes clear. It is worth sticking with as a complex and honest dissection of working class masculinity.

Hated this

[geoffox-766-418467 · 25 February 2011]

I totally hated this film after the dog was tortured. I hated writer director and actors for doing this. It ruined the film for me. In fact turned off the movie when they did that and sent it back.

If you need to shock, kill an animal, torture the defenseless. Makes good drama? Makes good nothing in this viewers eyes. I will not mention any names responsible for this film. For that would encourage them to make another one. This is one producer, director, writer I will avoid in the future.

I don't understand why animals are used to show violence. Don't these idiots know it only encourages the psychos and animal abusers to continue to do their damages? Are we encouraging them to continue to do their evil doings? Animal cruelty organizations are having enough problems getting these violators off the streets without stupid people like those who made this film encouraging them.

Dark, violent and realistic - not entertaining

[DPennSOBE · 3/10 · 29 April 2005]

While several friends loved it, I didn't care for this film. One can strive to find redemption in the way the 3 brothers cared for one another in this amazingly dysfunctional family, but it doesn't make up for the gratuitous violence and brutal portrayal of the killing of a dog.

This film seems mostly about pushing the edges of the shock envelope with frontal nudity (shaving and pub trimming included) psychological and physical brutality taking center stage. For some, this kind of non-Hollywood shock therapy is apparently enjoyable. For me it was an unfortunate way to spend one and one half hours.

Many people walked out during the screening I attended, and many more complained about the inclusion of this film in the local film festival as unnecessary. If hitting a painful nerve is the intent, this film does that well.

Marvelous Non-Hollywood film making

[dedwardloftin-1 · 10/10 · 15 August 2008]

This is a beautifully made film. The acting and production values are superb. I think the reason that some reviewers have difficulty with this film is just that it's a very simple film...It's about three young men dealing with the loss of their mother, and a father who has lost his wife. Each brother finds his own way to deal with his loss; one through drug abuse and self injury, one becomes his father, and another discovers the courage to express his desires. Morel allows the characters to breathe, and respects us enough to expect us to pay attention to visual clues which are equally important as spoken dialog, without spelling out all the details. Morel is masterful at depicting the emotional tone between individuals and groups. For instance, the scene in which Christophe has just come home from prison is extremely complex. There's a great deal of homo-erotic nuance between the brothers and their friends in this scene. While Morel creates a space for it, and fully inhabits it, he never feels a need to make a point of it, to make a statement. There's simply no need for that. It's not that they are gay or straight, but precisely that the lines between gay and straight are rather fuzzy between these good friends. Putting that message into words would create a self conscious tone in the film which could destroy the dense fabric of emotional ambiguity in which the brothers live. It may well be that part of the brothers emotional problems have to do with the intensity of their feelings for each other, and their fear of expressing them, as well. All three have shortcomings, and none find a way to fully escape the trauma that defines their family. In the end, the ironic point is that the slave dancer is free enough to take a principled, self respecting stand to end a demeaning relationship, yet the three brothers who look down on him are enslaved to their past.

The plot(and there is one) is entirely subservient to the emotional issues of the characters. If you're looking for a plot driven movie, this film has a plot, but the issues that drive the plot are almost entirely internal. This is a film not primarily about events, but how people respond to events and the ways in which their responses shape their lives. Viewed from that perspective, this is a unique and powerful film.

Very disappointing film

[LincMad · 2/10 · 18 June 2005]

Le Clan (3 Slaves Dancing) is a relentlessly bleak, dreary film, showing us the despair and grayness of the characters' lives without any hint at redemption. The considerable violence in the film (a couple of scenes are definitely not for those squeamish about blood or animal cruelty) underlines the darkness they inhabit, but gives us no insight into how they cope with it, much less how they might hope to emerge from it. The actors turned in fine performances, and the film has moments of visual beauty, but the story lacks an upside. The characters' lives progress from lousy to terrible as they turn away from any form of hope. I liked À Toute Vitesse (Full Speed), also by Gaël Morel, and I look forward to better work from the director and the cast in the future, but I recommend giving this one a miss.

Reality may offend but nudity never does

[MOSSBIE · 3 January 2009]

The best thing about the film was the casting and the location manager along with watching the processing of ham. When I read anyone say "I walked out on the film" it is just so kind of Paris Hilton on acid. The story line makes one think that all men are interested in male sex and male nudity and go one way or the other when they are actually seeing male genitalia and nice bodies which get that way from hard work achieved by this working family who have little else to do but lift, play; so their bodies end up being toned, their skin somehow perfect and they rely on one another for their missing mothers' love. The same thing happens as often in America and in most countries except the scenery is not always as good or the fathers as weak.In the town they live, there are not that many women, and like a prison, the men are alone together. I think men in a movie house fear looking at great sexy male bodies. These bodies and abundantly endowed guys just happen to be better than the three part story line although male beauty is never ugly no matter how few times we see it on film and the penis is not an offensive thing as most any prisoner or 13 year old doing something with his best friend will tell you.This is just more real and is likely to shame some.I liked it in spite of the youngest being so well hung.

Cruelty to man's best friend - skip this mess of a movie

[pgspat · 1/10 · 14 January 2006]

Worst cruelty to a dog in cinema history.... One only hopes it was staged. The overall depressing movie not worth the few scenes of male nudity. No women to be found in this french coming of age for 3 very disturbed brothers. If this is the way it is for french youth no wonder they are rioting. The plot is so hidden I couldn't give you a spoiler if I tried to. It is the worst french movie I have ever watched. I saw the advocate say this movie was "sexy", but I saw it as very depressing and I didn't relate or have sympathy for any of the characters except the dog. Gael Morel purposely features the puppy in various playful scenes early in the movie so he can heighten the shock for the movie viewer.... there never is any understanding of why this needed to be in the movie.

Deep, powerful, moving

[kjm914a · 8/10 · 27 November 2005]

I thoroughly enjoyed this dark, engrossing film that addresses the harsh lives of a group of young men in the not-so-gay boondocks of France. I am always amused at "reviewers" who slag a film because the views of life and lifestyles depicted are not "pleasant" or meeting with their social approval. To them I say, folks, that's what mainstream Hollywood films are for. Don't expect to find it in a challenging French melodrama. If you are able to open your eyes to a depiction of life without Hollywood endings, you may find that this film depicts relationships and unhappy lives with a stunning honesty, brutality and even, dare I say it, bleak but ravishing beauty.

Half Baywatch, Half Ken Park, 100% Boring

[dirtychild · 3/10 · 15 August 2006]

WARNING - SPOILERS!!

Three Dancing Slaves tells the (incoherent) story of three brothers - one living on the border of crime, the second - an ex con trying to make good after a stint in jail, the third - a gay teenager in love with an Arab into Capoeira dancing.

There are a lot of scenes in this that are reminiscent of those perv-y scenes from Baywatch - lots of buff, sexy men splashing around in water in slow-mo - total eye candy galore.

Then there are a lot of scenes which are completely confronting and dumbfounding (eg: quasi-incest scene, dog in bath with naked man) - a la Ken Park.

But I found that I just couldn't connect with any of these characters. The "plot" is way too strange for the viewer to have a grasp on what's going on (eg: quasi-incest scene, scene with a biker having sex with a transvestite, dog attack scene). The biker brother is just so strange and off-putting as a human being - you just don't have any sympathy for him at the end of the film. The gay couple is fairly underbaked and the viewer is left confused when the Arab boyfriend leaves the gay brother - unexpectedly and for no substantial reason.

Also bewildering is the homoeroticism - the movie is made up of 99% male characters - all cavorting in homoerotic behaviour (eg: gym, splashing around, getting shaved) - yet most of them are supposed to be straight. It sort of felt like they were pandering for a high "gay eye candy". It felt like at times you were watching a David DeCoteau film.

My verdict - don't bother with this eye-candy heavy film - you are probably better off watching pron or a David DeCoteau film instead (at least David DeCoteau films have better plots!)!

Interesting. Well worth a look

[jsmith1480 · 8/10 · 13 January 2007]

A Gael Morel film whose theme will be familiar to viewers who have seen "Wild Reeds" or "Come Undone" : young, handsome, sexy, disturbed young Frenchies trapped in the limited prospects offered by the mediocre towns and cities far from Paris. Here we have the three sons of an indifferent French father and a Maghreb mother, recently deceased. Where they live horny young men lack even a town whore for relief and, resignedly, must rely on the local grouchy, bored transvestite.

Morel favorite Stephane Rideau is a 20-something, "scared straight" ex con who will trade his youthful wildness for the dull comfort and security of middle class respectability while his two younger brothers grapple, respectively, with intolerable powerlessness and gay love.

All the guys are eye candy and Morel and his actors have never suffered from fear of frontal. All of which would mean little were it not for the interesting characters and Morel's unique cinematic style. Rent it. You'll enjoy it. And if it turns out you disagree, hell, it's only 88 minutes including the credits crawl. Jim Smith

Left with a feeling of What?!?! Contains Spoilers

[jketelone · 5/10 · 16 October 2007]

I am left on the fence with this movie. At first you begin to understand the lives of these brothers through the eyes of a friend. There are 3 stories happening in this movie however it fails to develop the characters further once the 3rd brother is introduced.

The last scene with the entire family. In the background you see the father (in keeping with his character is in the back, weak with no control). You see Christophe with his girlfriend, showcasing affection (makes sense since he has straightened out his life). Marc in the foreground (still showcasing his masculinity and toughness).

I was perplexed by the ending scene. You see Olivier and Hachlm "in love" but at the end Hachlm is dumped so that Olivier can have a rendezvous with the flight instructor. I didn't understand why Olivier's plot-line/story was very short and abruptly ended. I understand Haclim helped Olivier with expressing his sexual freedom however, this could have been done better. I really felt disconnected from Olivier because of the last scene. Did we really need to know he left his first love to be with the flight instructor and end the movie like that?!?!

I can see where the filmmaker was trying to convey however failed to do so in further developing the uniqueness of each brother and their overall connection. So after seeing this movie, I was left with what?

Interesting but ultimately disappointing

[Franco-LA · 4/10 · 10 May 2007]

The film does an excellent job presenting (without politics or the need for either factual exposition or excessive narrative), the socio-economic situation in France for young males with excessive energy, time and desires on their hands. The films has a number of homoerotic undertones without really being a gay film. In fact, the segment for the third brother, which would qualify as the "gay segment" is the shortest and least developed of the three. While some people have viewed each of the three segments as being about the three brothers, they are really about all three of them, clearly interconnected and with each brother (even the missing oldest in the first sequence) being "present" and playing a role.

I think it would have been a far better film if they had made it about two brothers and perhaps two closest friends. It actually is about three brothers and the close friend of one (Marc) who later became a close friend and romantic partner of another brother (Oliver). Personally, I also wouldn't have made some of the choices the filmmaker makes, I would have spent the time developing some of the other threads further. That said, it's an interesting film and means that the filmmaker may make further films of note, but I can't really recommend this as anything other than a rental when other, primary, choices are not available.

Short stories

[RNQ · 9/10 · 4 December 2005]

For the originality of its content and manner of telling, Gael Morel's "Le Clan" deserves wide art-house distribution. It does, however, need a better English title. Life may be difficult for people in the film, but they are not slaves and make choices that attempt to better their situations, if not always happily. Why not simply "A Clan," since nobody remembers Griffith's second title for "Birth of a Nation," or "Brothers"? Two boys practice a North African "slave dance," but for sport and release.

The tightly edited movie can be thought of as short stories about three brothers and their father. With rapid shifts we keep learning new things about the characters. Sometimes one wonders what went on during a gap, but usually one can figure it out and the dialogue that would have worked it through would have been sentimental and out of character.

One shot of the brothers huddled together watched by their father is difficult to justify realistically, but it works as a symbolic representation. If meanwhile one wants everything spelled out and sweetened, there is the Québec film "C.R.A.Z.Y." The brothers do maintain enormous familiarity. The youngest one, very drunk, is helped by a brother to vomit.

If that's shocking, we have to take it as a fact of the milieu. The banlieux of France have recently been in the news. "Le Clan" goes much further with stories that lead one to care for the characters in the variety of their difficult situations of social derogation, dangerous labour, sexuality, and self-esteem.

total crap

[bdornon2 · 1/10 · 17 October 2005]

"A beautifully rendered slice-of-life film", says Netflix: I would say it's more a sick pedophile's leering look at young Arabs in some god-forsaken French village. Though there are occasional beautiful shots of a nearby lake (it's hard to screw up sunlight on a lake, folks) the majority of the film is monotonously bland. The young actors are all physically beautiful, but forced to say and do the most unattractive things by this sick twisted film maker. More appropriate adjectives than "beautifully rendered" would be pointless, sickening, ugly, tedious, disjointed, boring, ridiculous, obtuse, unclear, loud, obnoxious, and stupid. Three Dancing Slaves may be the most miserably unpleasant movie I have ever seen. I've been an avid movie watcher for forty years and this is the first time I ever wanted to leave the theater, including PINK FLAMINGOES. But where FLAMINGOES is intended to be funny, and the gross-out humor is intentionally over the top and self-consciously silly, SLAVES takes itself totally seriously. The entire film is conducted without any vestige of humor, grace, or wit, and the gay angle is minor, trivial, and pointless.

A beautiful experience overall.

[swmyers · 10/10 · 21 April 2006]

We tend to laud films like American Beauty because they peel away the veneer of idealized American domesticity to reveal lives of quiet desperation. We take comfort in that -- knowing that even seemingly perfect lives are, under the surface, as miserable as we might view our own to be. In Morel's Le Clan (Three Dancing Slaves was the title I saw it under here in the States), we get a truer, less sanitized view of real lives laid bare. The desperation isn't quiet. It's crazed and exposed and all too believable. It's a very masculine film showing how men just do what they do. No apologies and, all too often, no explanations. Yet, somehow, it's relatable and understandable. Yes, it's a slice of pain punctuated with too few moments of what we would call joy. But sprinkled throughout are small glimpses of a more beautiful world. It's not lost on these characters. And it's not lost on the viewer. I found it haunting and heart-wrenching.

Bored to Death with Bad Boy Movies!

[macpet49-1 · 2/10 · 16 October 2008]

I feel like we are living in a throwback time. Fashions are retro, heroes are bad guys, bad guys are psychopaths. Didn't we do this in the 1930s? I'm really over seeing the tortured lives of young men with too much testosterone. This movie is like macho masturbation. The men are all babies. They are not evolved human beings. If this movie represents where humanity is going, I'm glad there is global warming! Like rabid dogs, these guys just act on animal instinct making wrong choices all the time. The most touching scene, where the one tough guy has to toss his dog over the raving, would've have been much better if he'd jumped. The producers of this movie must have nothing better to do than scan the daily news for shock and repulsion. I hope nobody gives them any more money to produce such crap. Better yet guys, why don't all the people who made this movie jump over the ravine.

Total Rubbish!

[titanic1999_2000 · 1/10 · 20 March 2006]

I'm so sick of films like this giving our continent a bad name! For all the repulsed Americans out there I can only say don't judge all Europeans based on this rubbish. It doesn't represent anyone whatsoever.

An utterly worthless film. There are no redeeming features at all. I've always disliked French films (food, literature etc) but I thought I might give this one a try just in case it was good. It wasn't. I've tried to think of something positive to say but there really is nothing positive about this voyeuristic pretentious and sickening film.

Avoid it like the plague.

simply great!

[seanxguy · 10/10 · 2 September 2008]

well, lets just say, from my very point of view as a gay man, this is such a phenomenal movie.

its not really all about gay life to be fair, but the messages are equally distributed. in the sense, the center of the storyline is pretty balance. gay life, brotherhood, friendship, and family.

i watched this film right after i watched the mostly unfabulous life of ethan green(which was like at 5 in the morning and i was freaking sleepy), well all i can say is Le Clan is nothing like mostly cliché American gay movies. it made me awake and just simply focused on the film. then, i went to sleep feeling so satisfied by staying up for watching the film.

fantastic job!

Pretentious and preposterous

[yduric · 1/10 · 29 July 2007]

Some critics have said about this disaster of a film that it somehow echoes Claire Deni's 'Beau travail' or Fassbinder's 'Querelle' for what affects the way of filming male bodies/male colonies: I would rather say that Mr Morel attempts to plagiarize them and is very, very far from mastering the same art as them; I would even add that in some scenes, he even (unsucsessfully) tries to plagiarize Pasolini.Now, let's come to the plot: contrarily to his co-writer, Christophe Honoré, whose film 'Ma mère', no matter how unpleasant it may be to some people, knows exactly what it is about,'Le clan' is a huge mess that claims to explore the aspects of an all-male colony, and , as the director so kindly expresses it, the human male in its vulnerability, but fails at every level. First of all, almost all of his characters are formatted: same look, same shaved heads, same deliberately unclear sexual behaviour: it is as all of them have repressed homo-erotic fantasies, but at the same time display the most caricatural straight macho behaviour: take for instance, the scene when they're watching a pornographic film together, and in the adjacent room, there is a transvestite!!! (if they are so male, why not pay a female prostitute?) waiting to be f***** by all of them. Another example of total absurdity is when one of the brothers wants to avenge himself from drug dealers by provoking a hit-and-run car accident, and deliberately later crashes his car on a tree: another complete inconsistency; there are many others, such as for instance, the 3 brothers sleeping nude together with their father watching them with an appalled glance (are all young men supposed to be incestuous???!!!) Not to mention this bastard of youngest brother who uses the Arab boy (the only consistent character in the film) to make him lose his virginity and then dumps him for no apparent reason and continues to have sex with his flying instructor. And with all of this, are we supposed to have understanding/compassion for a bunch of degenerate characters? No, I do not buy it, and, being a male myself, I would NEVER IN MY LIFE identify myself with these repulsive boys, who no way, in my opinion, represent a coherent portrait of today's young men.

A haunting and beautiful film that stays with you long after you have watched it.

[Teflon_Boy · 9/10 · 17 January 2006]

Because a large majority of moviegoers expect to be simply 'entertained and made happy' by cinema it makes sense that this film would prove difficult for some audiences to digest. But I would urge anyone with a love of cinema to watch 'Le Clan' as it is a very honest portrayal of a working class family made up of characters that do not necessarily fit together in obvious ways. Though Le Clan is unbridled and overtly masculine, none of the characters are hyper-realised. Not every thought that is in their head is vocalised either and there are no forced (dare I say it, Spielberg-esquire) conclusions drawn at the end of the film. For this reason I'm sure it failed to satisfy certain viewers more used to neat resolutions in the films they watch but I have to say this is one of the reasons I loved it.

The camera does indeed linger over the actors in seemingly quite exploitative ways, however I felt there was merit in this also. For example, Christophe remains clothed throughout the film except for one scene in which he is concealed by Marc and Olivier. Christophe is an open character who responds and reacts and is open enough not to require a reveal of his physique. However, Marc's abrupt and conflictingly passive aggressive nature requires that kind of adoration in order for the audience to witness the truth of him, his body and his physical beauty being more noticeable than the real him. With regards Olivier, he at first seems too young for anyone to be looking at him in that way but then he is revealed as having the body of a man, therefore demands that the audience treat him as such and as the film progresses the audience is able to.

The scene where Marc is forced to kill his dog is heartbreaking as this is the one creature he loves unreservedly. Marc cannot say that of his friends, his father, his brothers or the prostitutes he visits. After this we watch him crumble eventually unable to even carry out the revenge plot he's made his goal throughout the film. Out of all the brothers Christophe represents what each of them perhaps has to look forward to, the process of being tamed, becoming a cog in the machine and taking ones place amongst the dead meat, whereas Olivier is sensitive and hard to define, both sexually and otherwise. The scene in the boathouse between Olivier and Hicham is interesting when you think of the fact that the actors had to do it for real but not so when thought of within context of the characters and their lives. While the song that bookends their relationship is so mournful and beautiful that you almost feel the foreboding fleetingness of their love as you view it.

As an observer you feel as though the characters have gotten under your skin and by the end of the film whether watching as the impotent father or as the adoring Hicham you're not sure which one of the brothers out of Marc, Christophe or Olivier you care for most as neither is totally defined by what they do. I have to say I felt a strong connection to this film for reasons I can't quite pinpoint and that is why I recommend 'Le Clan'. It is a haunting and beautiful film that stays with you long after you have viewed it.