Three Dancing Slaves (2004)

This explosive film from Gaël Morel, award winning French writer-director (Full Speed, Under Another Sky) and actor (Wild Reeds), is a harrowing, intense drama of destruction, rebellion, redemption and love. Set against the backdrop of a sultry countryside near the French Alps, three motherless brothers collectively face the challenges of adulthood. There is Marc (Nicolas Cazale), a burgeoning criminal; Christophe (Stephane Rideau, Come Undone), who is trying to re-start his life after prison; and Olivier (Thomas Dumarchez), a capoeira fighter in love. As the young brothers wrestle with their transitions into manhood, they must each escape the tyrannical rule of their father to carve out their own places in life. Stunning cinematography and powerful performances help make Three Dancing Slaves an erotic, breathtaking film about family and the struggle of making your mark on the world around you.

Marvelous Non-Hollywood film making

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 his courage and learns how to love. 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 and straight are rather fuzzy between these good friends. Putting that message into words would create a self conscious tone in the film which would destroy the dense fabric of emotional ambiguity between the brothers. It may be that the brothers emotional problems have to do with the intensity of their feelings for each other, as well. In the end, each takes his own path. The plot 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 change their lives. Viewed from that perspective, this is a unique and powerful film.


August 15, 2008

oddly confusing

This movie was just another version of TLA's way of luring in gay people with a sexual cover to another droll movie, but this time it really made no sense!! The plot, if there was one, was very hard to comprehend. Three brothers each trapped in their own vices, but you never get to fully explore any of their lives to realate or sympathize for them. A miss for me!! June 28, 2008

Different

This is the second movie from director Gael Morel I have watched recently. The first one being "Full Speed." I rated "Full Speed" poorly. By watching this second movie, I understand why. I feel this director is very unorthodox in his expression of gay issues, and by being not familiar with his style of directing, am missing the point of what is being presented.

His stories are about a bunch of people, mostly men, in a particular point of their lives. There is no main gay theme. These people could be gay or straight. There is violence in one or two of the characters. He is very much appreciative of the human male form, as all of his actors are very athletic, good looking, perfect bodies (no nerds.) He also makes an emphasis on Arab men, particularly from Algeria, North Africa.

This movie revolves around three brothers, Marc, Christophe, and Olivier (the youngest.) Their mother had died painfully and all the boys missed her terribly. Christophe is in jail. He comes out of jail toward the middle of the movie and joins the family (he is straight.) There is one more boy, Hicham, an Arab young boy who is gay and friend of Marc. This boy becomes romantically involved with Olivier. Olivier being the only gay som in the family (he loose his virginity to Hicham without any of the other brothers knowing.) I am not sure what Marc is.

Marc gets into trouble with the local thugs (drug dealers) because he owes them money. He gets beaten by them and he is forced to throw his prize dog over a cliff to the town river. I almost turn the movie off as I am an animal lover (I don't think there was any cruelty to the animal, it is just part of the story.) Marc wants revenge and to kill the thug who hurt him and kill his dog. He wants his brother Christophe to help him but he refuses. He then becomes bitter towards his brother. Toward the end of the movie, Marc gets hurt seriously by attempting to run over his nemesis, he misses his target totally, hitting a tree in the process. His anger got the best of him.

Christophe gets a job in town after his release from jail and he gets promoted right way, and he finds a girl who is going to marry him, and his life seems to be progressing nicely. Hicham dumps Olivier (I do not know why) after using him. Hicham is a dancer and teaches Oliver the art. Olivier becomes real good (competitive). Marc becomes paralyzed but makes a struggling recovery. The final scene shows Olivier going into a building with a hand gliding instructor. Hicham has taught him to hand glide.

Even though I found this movie to be better than "Full Speed", the plot was again somewhat confusing. These are not your ordinary "gay" movies. The scene of the three brothers, in an interlocking position, sleeping naked, is very provocative and erotic, talking about brotherly love (the father was totally mesmerized watching.)

The movie near the French Alps making the scenery rather beautiful.



December 24, 2007

The Whole Of This Film Is Not Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts

I'm always sure I lose much of a movie with subtitles so I'll blame myself for not being wild about this one, in French with English subtitles; but all the fault cannot be mine. THREE DANCING SLAVES directed by Gael Morel is set in a small town in France where three young brothers, Marc, Christophe and Olivier, are trying to put their lives together after the death of their mother. They argue constantly with their father and often with each other. The angst-ridden Marc gets into real trouble over a soured drug transaction; Christophe gets a dreary job in a meat plant after getting out of prison; and Olivier, the seventeen-year-old, is trying to find himself.

Some of the landscape photography is gorgeous, and the acting by these three young men is certainly acceptable. There is a tremendously moving scene where Marc and Olivier secretly scatter their mother's ashes. The film never quite comes together, however, and some of the footage is completely inexplicable. For example, why does Marc need to shave his pubic area? Additionally although these three young men play brothers, they look nothing like each other. The film ultimately leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. June 3, 2006

Beautiful and Stunning

This movie was not only thought provoking and visually stunning at times, but brought me back to my boarding school days. (I went to an all boys boarding school.) Some people call what young "boys" do together homo erotic, I just call it what it is, young boys being boys. That element pays itself out in this film. I found that refreshing and stimulating to watch. April 4, 2006

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