Like A Brother

By: Scott Cranin
In-House Review - Sep 29 2008

Pulsing with sexual energy, this exciting French film recalls both the innovation of Come Undone and its feeling of sexual abandon. 18-year-old Sébastian (Benoît Delière) moves from his small-town existence to the wilds of gay Paris with its hot clubs and even hotter men. He's also saying goodbye to his unrequited teenage crush Romain (Thibault Boucaux) and adopts a new name, Zack, to indicate his new outlook on life. Zack checks out the clubs and hooks up with someone he meets in a chat room. But even with all this sexual exploring there's a part of Zack that still pines for his straight buddy back home. With the story jumping between the two time frames, there's just enough experimentation to keep it interesting. Like a Brother is a portrait of a young man on the cusp of adulthood; he's torn between his boyish desires and his manly passions. (French with English subtitles)

By: Amos Lassen

"LIKE A BROTHER"
The Carnality of Youth
Amos Lassen
There is something about the way the French make movies and make love. Put the two ideas together and you have dynamite. "Like a Brother" (WaterBearer Films) is just that. It intensely describes a youth who is torn between childish love and masculine desire. As Sebastien (who changes his name to Zack) explores the limits of his sexuality, there is a thrill, there is excitement and there is insecurity. We all know how awkward self discovery can be and how painful it is as well. The most difficult years any of us face ate those years in which we come of age and our raging hormones overtake us. We must not only deal with the heightened sexuality of puberty but we also have to find out who we are.
Sebastien, our hero, experiences the same feelings, the same questions and the same uncertainties. He wants to be someone else-he is not happy with who he is.
Sebastien realizes that to fulfill his dream of self-discovery he must leave the small town of his youth. Thus, he moves to Paris because he wants to succeed as an actor and he reinvents himself. Gone is the old Sebastien and in his place is Zack. Zack represents to him everything Sebastien is not. Away from his family he can pursue his dreams and live freely as a gay man. This is exemplified beautifully in the opening scene of the movie when we see him primping before the mirror as he prepares to make his nightly foray to the city's most fashionable gay bars. He is looking for love and as he movies from trick to trick, from man to man, he becomes convinced that sexual fulfillment and emotional strength are not in the offing.
Ashe ay alone one night, his mind takes him back to the small town when times were happier and there was no such thing as loneliness. He recalls the friendship he had with best pal Romain and he realizes that was what love was-he and Romain.
But time and distance have taken Roman from him until one day he calls and says that he is coming to Paris. Zach sees this as a sign that new life will be blown into their relationship which remains unrequited. Zack is force3d to make some big decisions so that he can live an honest life.
. A sense of sexual abandon saturates this film as it pulsates with sexual energy. As Zack stands on the threshold of adulthood he must decide between his "boyish love" and his "manly passions".
What great insight is provided by this film!!!!!!!! A look into the young mind gives us the chance to better understand ourselves.
The French have done it again with another powerful movie and we are so lucky to have it. It is just not fair that it was not around when I was growing up.
It is a beautiful and sincere look at becoming a man and told with unbridled passion. "Like a Brother" is one of the first of the new crop pf films to greet us in 2007 and I believe it will remain on the top list for the year to come. Start your new year off by having a look at it. Maybe we did not go through the period the way Sebastien/Zack did, but regardless it will trigger memories.

By: Like French Movies

This is a tender, endearing coming of age drama. While short (55 minutes), it captures many of the same feelings and confusion that young gay men encounter. I also agree that the ending was completely unsatisfying, as if the director gave up on his energy to complete it. Having said that, I would recommend it, even if it is inferior to "Come Undone", another French coming of age story.

By: isoron

By: just a reviewer

THE STORY-----((#1)). Tres Cute-Boy grows up in quaint seaside town. ((#2)). Cute-Boy, realizing which way his 'tide turns', falls for Cute-Chum. ((#3)). Cute-Chum, to admit feelings (bi?......nah, prolly not), constantly lolls all over Cute-Boy + utters "meaningful" things to him. ((#4)). Cute-Boy becomes more + more confused after Cute-Chum brings self to romantically kiss Cute-Boy.....then suffers 'comes-in-handy amnesia'. ((#5)). Cute-Boy, very unhappy + not 'getting any', heads for Big-City to try luck. ((#6)). Cute-Boy in Big-City (the one with tall, metal tower) hooks up with estranged, but-now-all-accepting Pere (uh, I mean Dad) + begins search for "love and a lasting relationship." ((#7)). Cute-Boy has much trouble finding something "meaningful".......but when at last he does + tide is running smoothly, who should show up but......Cute-Chum. ((#8)). After "catch up" time on park bench, Cute-Boy must head off for appointment.......but Cute-Chum wants to tag along. ((#9)). FIN (uh, I mean The End......really!) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////// BEHIND THE STORY-----((#1)). Too Cute-Director/Writer (behaviorally, not physically) creates an, in-the-end, confusing series of flashbacks (presumably to give us a sense of more than the bare plot that's actually there). ((#2)). Photographically, Too Cute-D/W gives us confusing melange (uh, I mean mix) of a color palette (washed out in home town scenes / brightly colorful in Big-City ones). Actually, he probably meant that.......but which way DO we adjust our monitor's color scale? ((#3)). Too Cute-D/W's scene lighting for sex scenes is catastrophic, particularly to gay viewers (who else would there be?). One can tell (from soundtrack) there's a lot of action going on, but it's so frustratingly dark that any enjoyment is lost (turning up bright-level only leads to a "washed out" picture). You can bet if this were "hetero-sex" the scenes would be as brightly lit as the Sahara Desert at noon. ((#4)). Too Cute-D/W's sense of what makes a fulfilling story, and how to end it, seems to this viewer (to again use the word) 'frustratingly' out-of-kilter. I've already told you about the final scene; what you haven't been told is the movie's running time. This film (uh, I mean "work of art"?) times out at just about a very brief 55 minutes. To make matters worse, the DVD Extras---with a "Making Of Featurette," wherein Too Cute-D/W and others explain this production to us---clocks in at a hefty 32(!) minutes. When a film explanation takes nearly two-thirds the length of the feature, we viewers out here have to wonder......don't we? ((#5)). PS--Points given for a coupl'a or three 'hotties' and for hot sex (but only for the hearing-empowered).