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Les Témoins (The Witnesses) 

Year: 2007
Country: France
Director: André Téchiné
Starring: Constance Dolle, Emmanuelle Béart, Johan Libereau, Julie Depardieu, Michel Blanc, Sami Bouajila
Synopsis: A young gay teen new to Paris meets a 50-something doctor while cruising in a park. Their friendship over the next year is the focus in this excellent André Téchiné film that details the early months of the AIDS crisis.
Quick review: The best part of this AIDS film is that for the first half of it, you have no idea you're watching an AIDS film. The audience has a chance to get to know the characters and become involved in the story before we have to deal with that illness. And the characters are all flawed. Manu is a hot young gay teen who has just arrived in Paris and he and his sister live in a small hotel room in a brothel. He's out cruising in a park and meets Adrien, a 50-something doctor who has a taste for younger men. They develop a friendship, though clearly Adrien wants more. Through Adrien, Manu meets a young couple, Sarah and Mehdi. They have just had a child and this film tracks the first year of his life. Téchiné doesn't rush the plot along, allowing everything to develop in a natural way. But after some time, Manu and Mehdi begin an affair. That's just one complication. Sarah has writer's block and is beginning to believe becoming a parent was a mistake; Manu's sister is struggling with her opera career and adjusting to living in a brothel; Adrien must face his unrequited love; Mehdi must struggle with his feelings and desires while being a dedicated vice officer for the police. There's so much chaos and conflicts it resembles life in that it's messy. Manu begins to show signs of AIDS and that's about the time we learn this film is set in 1984, before the disease had a name. We see the signs of the ignorance of that time and the great fear. But the film never preaches. My only complaints is that for a film that thrives because of the complications, it sure does wrap everything up pretty nicely at the end. Oh, and that Manu is wearing the same damn yellow plaid shirt throughout the entire movie. But otherwise, in a genre filled with some great films, The Witnesses belongs among them.
 

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