Les amitiés particulières (1964)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Jean Delannoy

Writers:

Jean Aurenche (writer)
Pierre Bost (dialogue)

Release Date:

4 September 1964 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

THIS SPECIAL FRIENDSHIP tells of the tender relationship between a twelve-year-old boy and the upperclassman who is the object of his desire...

Plot Keywords:

Boarding School | Pedophilia | Homosexual | Teen | Gay Teenager

Cast

Francis Lacombrade	...	Georges de Sarre
Didier Haudepin	...	Alexandre Motier
François Leccia	...	Lucien Rouvière
Dominique Maurin	...	Marc de Blajean
Louis Seigner	...	Le père Lauzon / Father Lauzon
Michel Bouquet	...	Le père de Trennes / Father Trennes
Lucien Nat	...	Le père supérieur / Father Superior

Also Known As:

This Special Friendship

Runtime:

100 min | USA:99 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France

A pair of of star-crossed lovers

People who have loved the novel by Roger Peyrefitte should equally love the film by Delannoy. This story of a thwarted love between two young boys in a french Catholic college in the 50's, faithfully transcribes the nearly oppressive atmosphere which prevailed in religious boarding schools in those days. The climate of repressed, contained passion at times culminates in sublimated eroticism as when Georges kisses the medal worn by Alexandre against his breast. The film perfectly renders the perversity of some priests who secretly encourage the forbidden love, sharing it by proxy, while openly condemning it. A remake of this film could not possibly be made nowadays. It tells a story of a time when,as the great Burke wrote, though at a far anterior period, "vice itself lost half its evil by losing all its grossness". The cast is excellent and the Black & White pictures superb.