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Review

With a cast that looks like it stepped from the pages of an Out magazine fashion shoot, plenty of buff, taut male bodies and a gay love affair, there's plenty to offer gay men in this virtually plotless but gorgeous film. First cast by gay director André Téchiné in Wild Reeds, Gaël Morel's first film project as a director was the also stunning and plotless Full Speed. Here has has taken quite a leap forward technically. Three Dancing Slaves practically shimmers at times with homoerotic energy. Told in three chapters for the three brothers, the first story is that of Marc. With his shaved head and rock-hard abs, actor Nicholas Cazalé is perfection in male beauty. The film opens with Marc giving his friends haircuts. Certainly an unusual activity for this group of tough young men. As it's summer, in this third of the film most of the guys wear no shirts. Like the most elegant softcore porn film made, there's some hot stuff here. His sexuality is never really defined, one assumes he's straight. The second third of the film is oriented around Christophe, played by Stéphane Rideau, who also appeared in Wild Reeds and Come Undone. Christophe, just got of prison, is trying to live life on the straight and narrow. He's got a job at a ham factory and is keeping his nose clean. The third section of the film focuses on Olivier played by doe-eyed actor Thomas Dumerchez. This part of the film focuses on his relationship with his Arab buddy Hicham (Salim Kechiouche).

Is the film a glamorous gay photo shoot, or a serious film about male bonding? We don't really know, all we know is that this is one of the most captivating 90 minutes we've spent with a film lately.

 -- Scott Cranin

The newest film from openly gay, director-writer-actor Gaël Morel (director of Full Speed, actor in Wild Reeds) Three Dancing Slaves is filled with hope amidst a violent and unpredictable world.

Told in three chapters, the film follows the lives of three handsome brothers. Lonely 22-year-old Marc idolizes his older brother Christophe, who has just been released from prison. However, Christophe's desire to lead a quiet new life is disrupted when he must become Marc's protector from a band of sadistic toughs who relish taunting the sensitive, younger sibling. The third brother, 17-year-old Olivier, doesn't even relate to anyone from his family - he has chosen to form a strong bond with Hicham, his best friend and "surrogate" brother. When a tragic event occurs, all three brothers' fragile identities and familial loyalties are put to the test, and each sibling must discover which course in life he will choose.

Visually, the film makes no qualms about idolizing the physical beauty of the brothers (the scene where all the brothers are innocently sleeping naked with each other is a stunner!) but Three Dancing Slaves also offers an intimate glimpse into the ways men communicate under extreme circumstances. (French with English subtitles)

 -- Lewis Tice