Reviews

If you have never seen any Ventura Pons's films, this is just the chance to. Personally, I think this is one of his best movies ever and the cast is simply excellent. It is not a film about homosexuality and I particularly like the way in which the young leading role (Kevin Bishop performing) "lives" his sexual orientation. He just lets it go, with no feeling of blame. Nevertheless, it's the relationship between mother & son that makes the film worthy. The mother (outstanding Juliet Stevenson) gives the down-to-earth counterpart to his son's love story, although she spends most of the time living in the Disney-like life that she herself has created to respond to her failed marriage. Ventura's look upon family matters is a peculiar one, since he rebuilds the relationship between mother & son through the collapse of the son's story with the pianist. I very much appreciated how Paul (the boy) wakes to love and lives it as a young person; he's full of contradictions and keeps being angry with anything or anyone pretending to be "his conscience". In a way, I think he rebels against it; he doesn't want to have "conscience", he just wants to live what he feels and as he feels. I strongly recommend this film to those who like true stories on the screen.

Realism at its best. After "Captain Conan" and "Act 627", this must be the best Tavernier. The film has the essence of what a European look on social matters is. It moves you and leads you to a state of complete identification not only with the "hero" of the film, but also with the whole village dwellers. Their pain is your pain. Tavernier manages to create an atmosphere where people are real by letting the camera follow the protagonists and avoiding stupid camera movements and takes. Life is usually lived without make-up. Certainly, this is the kind of film Americans won't shoot and award. When you see it, you ought to pause and think.