Close to Leo (2002) (TV) Tout contre Léo (original title)

Director:

Christophe Honoré

Writers:

Christophe Honoré (novel)
Diastème

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

When 21 year-old Leo, the oldest of four brothers, announces to his rural French family that he's HIV+ family bonds are tested...

Plot Keywords:

Brest | Panties | Hotel | Infection | Doctor

Cast

Yaniss Lespert	...	Marcel
Pierre Mignard	...	Léo
Marie Bunel	...	Mother
Rodolphe Pauly	...	Tristan
Jérémie Lippmann	...	Pierrot
Dominic Gould	...	Father
Louis Gonzales	...	Yvan
Joana Preiss	...	Yvan's Mother
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alex Beaupain		(as Alexandre Beaupain)
Assaad Bouab	...	Aymeric
Sylvie Contant
Julien Honoré
Laurent Honoré
Anna Kerivel
Gwen Le Gac
Jean-Yves Le Maout
Christopher Leyva		(as Louis Gonzalez)
Jean-Pierre Limosin
Harmony Lucas
Abdellah Moundy		(as Abdallah Moundy)
Julien Peny
Dominique Perrier
Fabrice Petit-Huguenin
Maud Pluquet
Gaetano Weysen-Volli

Directed by
Christophe Honoré

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Diastème
Christophe Honoré		novel "Tout contre Léo"

Produced by
Sophie Deloche	....	producer
Serge Moati	....	producer

Original Music by
Alex Beaupain		(as Alexandre Beaupain)
Doc Mateo		(as Doc Matthéo)

Cinematography by
Rémy Chevrin

Film Editing by
Chantal Hymans

Casting by
Richard Rousseau
Marion Touitou

Production Design by
Marie-Hélène Sulmoni

Costume Design by
Pierre Canitrot

Makeup Department
Delphine Jaffart	....	key makeup artist
Fabienne Le Goff	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Olivier Fay-Keller	....	production manager
Audrey Legendre	....	assistant unit manager
Regis Saillard	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Louise Narboni	....	second assistant director
Dominique Perrier	....	second assistant director
Sylvie Peyre	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Laurent Desaleux	....	property master
Nadine Hibon	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Eric Bouillon	....	assistant sound
Michel Casang	....	sound
Patrick Egreteau	....	foley artist
Eric Mauer	....	sound editor
Peggy Rivoallan	....	assistant sound
Bruno Tarrière	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Olivier Billard	....	gaffer
David Boutard	....	still photographer
Pierre Chevrin	....	first assistant camera
Johanne Debas	....	assistant camera
Johanne Debas	....	camera operator
Stéphane Dion	....	gaffer
Sébastien Fanchault	....	grip
Eric Gallas	....	grip
Philippe Lapicque	....	key grip
Arnaud Lemorillon	....	still photographer
The Zoom N'guyen	....	Steadicam operator (as Thetzoum Nguyen)
Thomas Ozoux	....	assistant camera
Olivier Rodriguez	....	gaffer
Vince Rodriguez	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Marion Touitou	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laurence Esnault	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Éliane Dorin	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Isabelle Le Grix	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Image et Compagnie
• M6 Métropole Télévision

Distributors

• Antiprod (2004) (France) (DVD)
• Parasol Pictures Releasing (2004) (UK) (all media)
• Peccadillo Pictures (2010) (UK) (all media)
• Picture This! Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Tout contre Léo" - France (original title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (video rating) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) (video rating) | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Brittany, France

Company:

Image et Compagnie

Excellent french COA movie

This movie was for a while in my collection, but it wasn't before a friend of mine reminded me about it – until I decided that I should watch it. I did not know much about Close to Leo – just that it was supposed to be excellent coming out of age movie and it deals with a very serious topic – Aids.

Although the person who has aids – is Leo – the scenario wraps around the way in which Marcel (the youngest brother of Leo) coupes with the sickness of his relative. At first everyone is trying to hide the truth from Marcel – he is believed to be too young to understand the sickness of his brother – the fact that Leo is also a homosexual contributes to the unwillingness of the parents to discus the matter with the young Marcel. I know from experience that on many occasions most older people do not want to accept the fact that sometimes even when someone is young this does not automatically means that he will not be able to accept the reality and act in more adequate manner then even themselves . With exception of the fact that the family tried to conceal the truth from Marcel, they have left quite an impression for me – the way they supported their son – even after discovering the truth about his sexuality and his sickness. The fact that they allowed the young Marcel to travel along with Leo to Paris to meet his ex boyfriend was quite a gesture from them– most families I know will be reluctant to do that. There is a lot of warmth in the scenes in which the brothers spend some time together – you can see them being real friends , concern about each other.

Close to Leo is an excellent drama, which I strongly recommend