Un fils (2003) User Reviews

A strong story but too short a film

[braniki · 4/10 · 20 September 2005]

It is true that the sensitive and honest point of view of the director is obvious here. But this is not enough to make a good entertainment, unfortunately. The main problem with this quite short movie (58 min.) lies in the fact that the audience never really get the time to be involved with the tragic fate of the main protagonist. The tone here is rather cold and the characters never cause much compassion. Maybe a more developed plot would have helped. The script also hesitates a bit too much between describing the dark world of male prostitution (which is actually very well depicted, by the way), and the personal investigation of the father who discovers the untold "occupation" after the death of his prostitute son (which could have been more suspenseful treated with a series of flashbacks). Sadly enough, the film fails in both perspectives since the two parts of this story end just when the audience begins to get interested. I didn't entirely dislike this short but rather was disappointed considering the intensity of the subject.

A story about an Algerian handsome young man who prostitutes himself in Paris.?

[georges-b1 · 8/10 · 29 August 2004]

It is a film very sober, intimate, no brilliant, but very right about the "milieu" of the masculine prostitution in Paris. It' looks like almost a documentary. No special effects, no spectacular sequences, no zeal, no demonstration. Just a main idea which conducts you to the point: the death, permanently. With the collaboration of two actors remarkables: Mohamed Hicham and Hammou Graïa (we remember him in the film "L'Homme blessé" of Patrice Chéreau, and also his great prestations as a theater actor), this director makes an impressive film with simplicity in the present cinematographic context.

Not my kind, BUT... (warning : possible SPOILERS)

[blowupujot · 24 June 2004]

However this is absolutely NOT the kind of film-making I like and I make, the story is well conducted, and the film leads you to ask yourself some questions... That's not common in contemporary film-making, since directors get the habit of taking you for a fool (I mean, for instance : bursts of bogus music mean "cry" or "be afraid" or "oh ! now you should feel there is something funny, so please have a laugh"). In spite of some incoherent stuff (the relationship between father and son is well less explored than the rather sad professional life of Selim & Louise ; the circumstances leading to Selim's death are rather obscure), this short is a pleasant surprise. Having briefly met Amal during the post-production of this opus, I can now tell that it shows how clever that funny girl is and that if she was given a REAL budget for another movie it would certainly be worthy. Very nice acting from Isabelle Pichaud for a nice character too.