Close to Leo
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| Close to Leo | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover for Close to Leo |
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| Directed by | Christophe Honoré |
| Produced by | Sophie Deloche, Serge Moati |
| Written by | Diastème, Christophe Honoré |
| Release date(s) | 2002 |
| Language | French (English subtitles) |
Close to Leo, is a 2002 made-for-TV movie released in France as Tout contre Léo (close to Leo, but also everything against Leo). It was directed by Christophe Honoré and based on his 1996 novel for young adults.
Leo (Pierre Mignard), is the eldest of four brothers. Marcel (Yannis Lespert), age 12, is the youngest. With their young parents, they are a happy and close-knit family. One evening, Marcel overhears his family discussing the news that Leo is HIV-positive. They all agree to protect Marcel from the news, even though Leo wants to tell his little brother, not only that he has HIV, but that he is gay.
The family continues pretending everything is fine to Marcel, but the young boy is devastated and starts behaving badly. Marcel wants the truth, but neither his parents nor his brothers can bring themselves to speak openly about it. Marcel is just on the edge of puberty and is sometimes childish and sometimes mature and sensitive. When he is excluded from a midnight ocean skinny dip by his brothers, he follows them to the beach demanding to be included.
Marcel is intimate with Yvan, a boy of his own age, and there are clear suggestions that Yvan is gay. He spends much of the time undressed and the two boys are shown lying beside each other on Yvan’s bed wearing just their black boxer shorts. Yvan looks longingly at Marcel. That night, they sleep together in the same bed, though there is never any suggestion of sexual activity. When Marcel comes down for a drink, Yvan’s mother cuddles him and comforts him about Leo’s chances of surviving. The two walk up to bed together holding hands.
Leo takes Marcel off to Paris so that he can visit an old boyfriend and explain both himself and his situation to his young brother. Again, there is unusually close intimacy, with the two brothers sharing a double bed and Marcel cuddling Leo and lying on top of him. When he’s sleeping with Yvan or Leo, Marcel just sleeps in his underwear, but at home he wears pyjamas.
Marcel understands that Leo is also very unhappy with his situation, and sees him decide to stop taking his medication. Leo cannot cope with the stress and puts Marcel on a train back home to Brittany, asking the boy to lighten the atmosphere back home.
