Presque rien

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Presque rien
Directed by Sébastian Lifshitz
Produced by Christian Tison
Written by Sébastian Lifshitz
Stéphane Bouquet
Starring Jérémie Elkaïm
Stéphane Rideau
Marie Matheron
Dominique Reymond
Lætitia Legrix
Nils Ohlund
Réjane Kerdaffrec
Cinematography Pascal Poucet
Editing by Jann Dedet
Distributed by Peccadillo Pictures
Running time 95 mins
Country France
Language French
IMDb profile

Presque rien (meaning Almost Nothing, which is also the UK release title; the U.S. title is Come Undone) is a 2000 French film directed by Sebastien Lifshitz, depicting a stormy romance between two 18-year-olds (One who is upper middle class and another who is working class) set in Brittany and what remains of that relationship eighteen months later.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Mathieu (Jérémie Elkaïm), is spending his summer vacation at the sea before starting to attend college in the fall to become an architect. His mother is deeply depressed because of the death of his baby brother from cancer, and he and his snotty younger sister cannot get along.

Then he meets Cedric at the beach (Stéphane Rideau, also the object of gay desires in several films, including Les roseaux sauvages), who is attractive and obviously looking for a boyfriend.

After the first shy kisses and embraces, the two boys begin a steamy affair, and Lifshitz does not hesitate to show that with realism.

A parallel plotline focuses on Mathieu eighteen months later, as he is recovering from the shock of their separation. Mathieu having tried to commit suicide, his psychiatrist sends him back to the small seaside town to learn to deal with what happened. While Lifshitz does not explicitly say why their relationship failed, the impression is conveyed that their characters are simply too different.

The film ends on a hopeful note, when Mathieu meets Pierre (Nils Ohlund), another former boyfriend of Cedric's, and finally gets the feeling he has found someone who understands him.

[edit] Plot Structure

Rather than having a clear, chronologically ordered, narrative, the movie switches between the summer and the winter plotline, depicting the differences in Mathieu's life at one time and the other, as well as establishing the contrast between one time and the other visually.

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the movie uses songs by Irish-born singer and songwriter Perry Blake (from his album Still Life) to convey Mathieu's melancholic, depressive mood.

[edit] External links

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