The Man I Love (1997)

This is a combination coming out and first love story. The swimmer and diver Lucard is interested in attractive Martin. The film follows the characters' coming out with all its difficulties... See full summary »

Director:

Stéphane Giusti

Writer:

Stéphane Giusti

Stars:

Jean-Michel Portal, Marcial Di Fonzo Bo, Mathilde Seigner

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Michel Portal	...	Lucas
Marcial Di Fonzo Bo	...	Martin
Mathilde Seigner	...	Lise
Vittoria Scognamiglio	...	Rose
Jacques Hansen	...	Père de Lucas
Stéphane Lévêque	...	Mathieu
Karim Lounis	...	Pablo
Bernard Nissile	...	Millau
Bruno Bonomo	...	Prêtre
Stéphane Giusti	...	Jérôme
Benjamin Sanchiarelli	...	Enfant aux fleurs
Serguei Tourountsev	...	Doublure plongeon
Nedjib Djebarri	...	Enfant piscine 1
Louis Philippe Lopez	...	Enfant piscine 2
Elisabeth Giusti	...	Infirmière Martin 1

Storyline

This is a combination coming out and first love story. The swimmer and diver Lucard is interested in attractive Martin. The film follows the characters' coming out with all its difficulties, the bitter-sweet pleasures of first love and the dreadful moment when one comes down to reality and realizes that one's beloved friend has a hard way to go yet. The positive message the film tries to transmit is the somewhat common motto "Live each day of your life as if it were your last."

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | underwater scene | shower | penis | nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Sport

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

5 December 1997 (France)

Also Known As:

Der Mann meines Herzens

Filming Locations:

Cuges-les-Pins, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ellipse Animation, La Sept-Arte, Onya Film Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 91 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

User Reviews

What a difference 18 years can make.

I'm sure I watched this … along with many other dramas that focused on the hopelessness surrounding AIDS, the medical-governmental indifferent & inadequate response, the sudden awakening & coming out of a man who was either in denial or (somewhat absurdly) unaware that he could be attracted to men … years ago and found it touching and emotionally engaging.

Watching it in 2015 makes a big difference. The characters and situations now seem pretty clichéd and evoke less of an emotional response. Martin now appears self-indulgent, self-absorbed. His quest to win over Lucas at first is relentless and determined, but once Lucas begins to express interest in and compassion for him, Martin becomes, at times, cold and antagonistic towards Lucas. Yes, Martin is going to die soon and is undergoing a roller coaster ride of emotions as he faces that prospect, but the transition from being outwardly rather frivolous and carefree to being moody & bitchy once Lucas has left his wife/girlfriend and has become unrealistically devoted to Martin erodes much of the sympathy one could feel for Martin. Maybe the amount of time the movie spent showing Martin in pursuit of Lucas compared to the relatively short time showing him pushing Lucas away magnifies the apparent abruptness in the change, just as it seems to make Lucas' transition from indifference & antipathy to love & devotion a bit hard to accept.

The movie is valuable for its historical perspective on this devastating time and for its insight into the drama that it produced in the "entertainment" world but, like most reactionary, socially provocative theater, it becomes dated and a bit quaint with the passage of time.