Revealed five years ago thanks to Girl, which won him the Camera d’or at the Cannes Film Festival (awarded to the best first film, all sections combined), Lukas Dhont strikes once again in the heart by drawing inspiration from his own childhood memories. Not corresponding himself to the image of the “real guy”, towards which tend all the social codes linked to the notion of virility, the Belgian filmmaker thus offers a story of tender and fusional friendship between two pre-adolescents.
When you meet them, Léo (Eden Dambrine) and Rémi (Gustav De Waele) seem to live an ideal existence in an enchanting setting. Lukas Dhont also bathes his images in a shimmering light in order to highlight the hometown in which the two boys grow up, like an evocation of the idyllic atmosphere in which their happiness is expressed. The latter, aged 13, have been friends almost forever. They love each other in all innocence, could not conceive of their life without each other, are practically part of two families, exchange gestures of affection as naturally as possible.
This beautiful dynamic will however have to face the reality of the world as soon as the two boys find themselves attending the same school, placed in the same class. A disarmingly simple scene, during which Leo only furtively leans his head on his friend’s shoulder during a lesson, which Dhont films from behind, illustrates how social pressure will come to insert in their relationship. . And do damage. When a classmate, who seems to find their friendship very cool, asks Léo and Rémi if they are “together”, the reflection that the question leads to is not at all of the same nature for one and for the other.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
Eden Dabrine and Léa Drucker in Closea film by Lukas Dhont
Leo then begins to distance himself and tries to better correspond to the image that society usually expects of a young man’s behavior. To do this, he also joins a hockey team. On Rémi’s side, it’s total incomprehension. And a pain commensurate with his distress, heartbreaking. Really, it’s shocking.
With infinite delicacy, and a lot of modesty too, Lukas Dhont interferes in the intimacy of the two friends, as well as in that of the two families, tested by a tragedy.
Fully assuming the melodramatic nature of his story, the filmmaker is not afraid of emotion, but he has the tact and finesse to let it arise on its own, without emphasizing anything or emphasizing everything in broad strokes. Just as he had done with Victor Polster at the time of Girl, Dhont has magnificently managed his young actors. The latter deliver remarkable performances of subtlety here. It is also worth noting the presence of Léa Drucker and Émilie Dequenne, formidable in the roles of the two mothers.
Winner last year of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, now a finalist for the Oscars in the category of best international film, Close will definitely be on our list of favorites of the year.
Indoors
Drama
Close
Lukas Dhont
With Eden Dabrine, Gustav De Waele, Emilie Dequenne
1:45