Few of us are lucky enough to have such an effortless and intimate friendship like the one shared by 13-year-old Belgian boys Leo and Remi on “Close”. That connection, and the responsibility that comes with it, is at the heart of Lukas Dhont's sophomore film, so subtle and sensitive in the first half, so devastatingly fake since its tragic turn. Coming from an openly queer director, this beautifully evocative film offers such a pure portrayal of innocent and innocuous same-sex affection like we've never seen on film before. And then it turns into something incredibly, unpleasantly different.
"Close" marks an auspicious return to the Cannes Film Festival for Dhont, whose 2018 Camera d'Or-winning debut "Girl" was both ahead and behind the cultural conversation about trans youth. That notable first film dramatized the journey of an impatient teenager eager to become a ballerina, but cast a cisgender boy to tell that story, winning directing and acting awards around the world, and rejection from the trans community in the US. Among the objections raised by GLAAD and other critics was a climactic scene in which the trans girl puts her life in danger by cutting off her penis, a dramatic cliché that sends a potentially dangerous message to impressionable audiences who might identify with the main character. .
Director: Lukas Dhont
Writers: Lukas Dhont, Angelo Tijssens
Stars: Léa Drucker, Eden Dambrine, Émilie Dequenne
"Close" presents a version of the same problem, but more on that later. First, it's worth celebrating the first 45 minutes of the film, which will resonate deeply with anyone, gay or straight, who has ever found themselves adapting their behavior according to the homophobia of others. We meet lifelong best friends Leo and Remi playing together in a makeshift fort just a stone's throw from the blooming fields of dahlias, an incredibly specific and indescribably charming profession for Leo's family that would surely make Terrence Malick envy.
Rarely apart, Leo and Remi seem to be joined at the hip. They even spend their nights sleeping in each other's houses, limbs intertwined. Their parents treat both kids like their own (Léa Drucker and Emilie Dequenne play Leo and Remi's respective moms, and they're both great). Similar to "Girl," which put the audience in the shoes of its protagonist, Dhont and co-writer Angelo Tijssens present observational scenes of everyday life, revealing character through behavior rather than expository dialogue. Much of his technique is subtext, which is up to us to play detective. And yet, deprived of certain clues, audiences will build what they want of these two children in their heads, filling in the blanks with a combination of lived experience and personal bias. The movie almost demands it, requiring us to project our assumptions onto the characters.
Are Leo and Remi gay? Can it be one of them, but not the other? In the real world, at the age of 13, many children have already had their first sexual experiences with neighbors, cousins or classmates, if not with predatory adults in their circle, and here I am talking not only about gay children, but of all young men. regardless of who or what they end up imagining. It probably wouldn't be appropriate for "Close" to dramatize such a dynamic between two minors, but it would go a long way toward answering the movie's million-dollar question.
On the first day of a new school term, surrounded by an unknown group of students, the children hug each other especially in class and at recess. In the cafeteria, a surprisingly daring girl asks them the question: "Are you together?" and Leo tenses up, explaining that they're just "close," like brothers.
It's a life-changing moment for Leo and Remi, though neither realize it at the time. Like Adam and Eve eating from the tree of knowledge, all innocence fades away. To be clear: these two have done nothing wrong. But they just experienced a key heteronormative socialization jolt. They have been told that their friendship is not normal and that no one wants to be different in high school. And so a wedge is driven into their friendship.
Leo, suddenly self-conscious, begins to behave differently. When Remi touches him at school, she backs off and changes position. They used to share the same table in class, but now they sit on opposite sides of the room. Leo attends one of Remi's flute recitals, but is embarrassed when his friend shows up at hockey practice, waiting in the stands like a girlfriend would.
Halfway there, something terrible happens. Leo goes on a field trip with the class, and Remi is nowhere to be found. When they return, he finds out that Remi is dead. Nearly an hour of unanswered questions follows, and while Dhont handles the attendant mysteries with the delicacy one might expect, it's infuriating to think that this is where he allowed the story to continue. Because now, “Close” has been turned into a movie about teen suicide. We all know those rates are higher among gay youth, but what made Remi kill himself? And what will Leo be thinking about from here on out? Despite his evocative blue eyes, the young actor Dambrine still isn't practiced enough to project Leo's thoughts.
Heartfelt as it is, this tragedy feels like a narrative device, designed to prove some kind of ideological point, when "Close" could have taken the much harder dramatic path of seeing how these two kids navigate their newfound peer pressures. . Many audiences won't have a problem with Dhont's casting, and the film may well win a major prize at Cannes, it's that strong in some places. But in life, suicide is often seen as "taking the easy way out," and by falling back into that trope, the movie does the same. I am convinced that Dhont has a masterpiece in him. But there is an immaturity in his films that he must first overcome. He is already so close.
Watch Close 2022 Movie Trailer
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