Buy The Witnesses on DVD

The Witnesses

DVD

More Info

Usually ships in
5-10 days

$24.99 (10% off)
List Price: ~~$27.99~~

When new special editions or price reductions are announced.

Synopsis

A gorgeous young man from the French countryside, eager to begin a gay life of experience and adventure, is the catalyst for a series of life-changing events and passionate affairs within a clique of longtime friends.

3 Reasons To buy this film

André Téchiné is back in fine form with this very special film.
The young lead, Johan Libereau, is a revelation.
There's plenty of sex, but make no mistake, this is serious business.

Review

André Téchiné (Wild Reeds) has directed his strongest, most dramatically compelling work yet, which sees a set of characters bear witness to the start of the AIDS crisis and become part of the war that it entails. One evening in 1984 Paris, fiftysomething gay doctor, Adrien (Michel Blanc), cruises the park and picks up a stunningly cute teenager, Manu (Cold Showers' Johan Libereau). Adrien's impulse is sexual, but hoping for something deeper, he restrains himself and begins a platonic courtship. Adrien introduces the provincial lad to his close friends, Sarah (Emmanuelle Béart) and Mehdi, (The Adventures of Felix's Sami Bouajila), a writer and police inspector who recently became new parents, and the quartet vacation together on the French Riviera. During a swim, Manu almost drowns, prompting Mehdi to deliver mouth-to-mouth – an act that inspires an awakening in the latter. They begin a secret, intensely sexual affair, while Sarah endures her own personal crisis: she's a new mother who, deep down, hates children. Adrien learns of Manu and Medhi's hijinks and his jealousy inspires rage, but everything changes within the circle of friends when a strange and deadly new illness rears its head.

Broken into three chapters with the summery, sexy start giving way to a terse dramatic middle before culminating in a heartbreaking yet hopeful close, The Witnesses is as profound and complex as it is expertly acted (Libereau will break your heart!). Techiné's latest is a masterwork of sexualities, emotions, relationships, honesty and life during a wartime that endures today. (French with English subtitles)

-- Lawrence Ferber

Product Format Information

DVD : $24.99

Availability: Usually ships in
5-10 days
Close Caption: No
Region Code: 1
UPC: 712267272426
Catalog #: DV2648332

Studio : Strand Releasing

Languages: French (Primary) , English Subtitles
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen

Customer Reviews

Very French

Amos Lassen wrote on 02/25/2010:

"The Witnesses"?

Very French

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

One of the films that has been making the GLBT festival circuit this year is "The Witnesses"?, a new French film that has been very well received.
Like many French films, this is narrated by one character (in voice over), Sarah who is writing the main characterâ€™s life story. The plot deals with love in all of its varieties and guises, about gaining self-happiness and about how AIDS destroys. It takes place in the 1980â€™s when we first learned about AIDS and it shows beautifully how the characters in the film deal with the disease. The movie is never maudlin or sad, it is like lifeâ€”it just keeps going on.
The movie deals with the life of Manu, a young gay man who moves to Paris. While there he meets an older man who falls in love with him, Adrien. Manu is not looking for love; he wants friendship. Adrien has a good friend, Sarah, a new mom and her husband, Mehdi. They have an open relationship and allow each other to have sex with others. Mehdi is taken by Manu and the two begin an affair.
What happens in the rest of the movie is better not said but let me say that this is a movie to watch for. It is important because it dares to look at AIDS in a different way and it explores so many different facets of love. However what it really does is let us know how devastating AIDS was. I think sometimes we tend to forget that all that we have today was won for us by so many people that we lost to the terrible disease and we need to be reminded. More so, we are still not free from the horrible consequences of such a terrible blow to the human race.

Very French

Amos Lassen wrote on 12/07/2008:

"The Witnesses"

Very French

Amos Lassen

One of the films that has been making the GLBT festival circuit this year is "The Witnessea" a new French film that has been very well received.
Like many French films, this is narrated by one character (in voice over), Sarah who is writing the main characterâ€™s life story. The plot deals with love in all of its varieties and guises, about gaining self-happiness and about how AIDS destroys. It takes place in the 1980â€™s when we first learned about AIDS and it shows beautifully how the characters in the film deal with the disease. The movie is never maudlin or sad, it is like lifeâ€”it just keeps going on.
The movie deals with the life of Manu, a young gay man who moves to Paris. While there he meets an older man who falls in love with him, Adrien. Manu is not looking for love; he wants friendship. Adrien has a good friend, Sarah, a new mom and her husband, Mehdi. They have an open relationship and allow each other to have sex with others. Mehdi is taken by Manu and the two begin an affair.
What happens in the rest of the movie is better not said but let me say that this is a movie to watch for. It is important because it dares to look at AIDS in a different way and it explores so many different facets of love. However what it really does is let us know how devastating AIDS was. I think sometimes we tend to forget that all that we have today was won for us by so many people that we lost to the terrible disease and we need to be reminded. More so, we are still not free from the horrible consequences of such a terrible blow to the human race.
__________________