February 2, 2023
FILM: CLOSE
DIRECTED BY: LUKAS DHONT
STARRING: EDEN DAMBRINE, GUSTA DE WAELE, EMILIE DEQUENNE
RATING: 3 ½ OUT OF 4 STARS
By Dan Pal
Coming of age stories have been with us since the earliest days of cinema. The trick is to do something different that might still be relatable to an audience. Luka Dhont’s newly Oscar-nominated film Close does just that. It tells the story of the friendship between two young boys that gets severed by adolescence, peer pressure, and social norms. It’s an extremely heartfelt work that deserves to be seen by those who want to feel something at the movies.
At the start of the film, we see Leo, played by Eden Dambrine and Remi, played by Gustav De Waele enjoying the pleasures of young friendship. They play imaginary games, laugh, and run through fields together. Bright lighting and colorful flowers visually accompany the beauty of their bond. It’s youth and energy rolled together with a solid but unexpressed love. The boys are both emotionally and physically connected. They often stay over at each other’s homes and sleep in the same bed. There’s nothing sexual about this as the boys are only at the early stages of adolescence. It is the innocence of childhood still holding them together in more ways than one.
What changes this friendship is a new year when the boys have entered into the next stage of their academic life (presumably freshman year of high school.) Quickly the somewhat awkward boys are noticed for their physical closeness and are questioned as to whether they are a couple or not. Leo objects but soon seeks out new activities, sports, and friends. This alienates Remi who doesn’t share the same sense of upcoming teenaged adventure. He prefers the life they had. However, the gulf between them grows wider and leads to a very dramatic result.
Without revealing any more of the plot, suffice to say that Leo must contend with the results of his own actions. Eden Dambrine beautifully portrays the guilt and inner turmoil Leo experiences. Never does the actor overly emote. He is stoic yet tortured. He can’t express his thoughts because he’s never had to before at this level. His scenes conjure up strong emotions. I felt on the verge of tears for much of the last half of the film. We know the cathartic release has to come but Dambrine keeps us teetering in anticipation. Credit has to also be given to director Lukas Dhont who clearly knew what he wanted from his young actors and reaches it at the highest level.
The cinematography and production design also stand out here. There are frequent tracking shots of the boys running and enjoying life. Later, as Leo finds himself separated from Remi, the same atmosphere becomes colder and darker. Life has taken away the innocence of childhood. Warm yellows become harsher reds. The future will never be the same.
The title of the film suggests many ideas Dhont has striven for here. First there is the physical closeness of the characters that is amplified by Remi’s mother (played by a wonderful Emilie Dequenne) who often shares in their soft moments together while out in a field with heads on top of each other. Then there is the emotional closeness that may not be expressed at first but also reaches a climax when tensions reach their greatest level. Think of the word also as “close” as in “close the door.” Leo closes the door on Remi and it’s a sad commentary about the transition to adolescence, the loss of innocence, and the peer pressure found in high school. Do we push friends away when they are needed the most? Are we still a society that closes us off from male friendships that might on the surface appear to “gay?”
Close is the kind of film that might have been made decades ago when emotional male turns were becoming highly celebrated in American cinema (think 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer, 1980’s Ordinary People.) In the 21st Century these emotionally revealing films have mostly been relegated to the indie world: Mike White’s Chuck & Buck and Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name come to mind first in relation to this film. That’s too bad, for hiding male emotions stunts the opportunity for real growth and acceptance of feelings as a natural part of life. For me, there’s nothing more satisfying in a film than any kind of real emotion that is as thoughtfully directed and portrayed as is found in Close.
Close, which is nominated for the Best International Film Oscar, opens in limited theatrical release this week.
FILM: CLOSE
DIRECTED BY: LUKAS DHONT
STARRING: EDEN DAMBRINE, GUSTA DE WAELE, EMILIE DEQUENNE
RATING: 3 ½ OUT OF 4 STARS
By Dan Pal
Coming of age stories have been with us since the earliest days of cinema. The trick is to do something different that might still be relatable to an audience. Luka Dhont’s newly Oscar-nominated film Close does just that. It tells the story of the friendship between two young boys that gets severed by adolescence, peer pressure, and social norms. It’s an extremely heartfelt work that deserves to be seen by those who want to feel something at the movies.
At the start of the film, we see Leo, played by Eden Dambrine and Remi, played by Gustav De Waele enjoying the pleasures of young friendship. They play imaginary games, laugh, and run through fields together. Bright lighting and colorful flowers visually accompany the beauty of their bond. It’s youth and energy rolled together with a solid but unexpressed love. The boys are both emotionally and physically connected. They often stay over at each other’s homes and sleep in the same bed. There’s nothing sexual about this as the boys are only at the early stages of adolescence. It is the innocence of childhood still holding them together in more ways than one.
What changes this friendship is a new year when the boys have entered into the next stage of their academic life (presumably freshman year of high school.) Quickly the somewhat awkward boys are noticed for their physical closeness and are questioned as to whether they are a couple or not. Leo objects but soon seeks out new activities, sports, and friends. This alienates Remi who doesn’t share the same sense of upcoming teenaged adventure. He prefers the life they had. However, the gulf between them grows wider and leads to a very dramatic result.
Without revealing any more of the plot, suffice to say that Leo must contend with the results of his own actions. Eden Dambrine beautifully portrays the guilt and inner turmoil Leo experiences. Never does the actor overly emote. He is stoic yet tortured. He can’t express his thoughts because he’s never had to before at this level. His scenes conjure up strong emotions. I felt on the verge of tears for much of the last half of the film. We know the cathartic release has to come but Dambrine keeps us teetering in anticipation. Credit has to also be given to director Lukas Dhont who clearly knew what he wanted from his young actors and reaches it at the highest level.
The cinematography and production design also stand out here. There are frequent tracking shots of the boys running and enjoying life. Later, as Leo finds himself separated from Remi, the same atmosphere becomes colder and darker. Life has taken away the innocence of childhood. Warm yellows become harsher reds. The future will never be the same.
The title of the film suggests many ideas Dhont has striven for here. First there is the physical closeness of the characters that is amplified by Remi’s mother (played by a wonderful Emilie Dequenne) who often shares in their soft moments together while out in a field with heads on top of each other. Then there is the emotional closeness that may not be expressed at first but also reaches a climax when tensions reach their greatest level. Think of the word also as “close” as in “close the door.” Leo closes the door on Remi and it’s a sad commentary about the transition to adolescence, the loss of innocence, and the peer pressure found in high school. Do we push friends away when they are needed the most? Are we still a society that closes us off from male friendships that might on the surface appear to “gay?”
Close is the kind of film that might have been made decades ago when emotional male turns were becoming highly celebrated in American cinema (think 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer, 1980’s Ordinary People.) In the 21st Century these emotionally revealing films have mostly been relegated to the indie world: Mike White’s Chuck & Buck and Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name come to mind first in relation to this film. That’s too bad, for hiding male emotions stunts the opportunity for real growth and acceptance of feelings as a natural part of life. For me, there’s nothing more satisfying in a film than any kind of real emotion that is as thoughtfully directed and portrayed as is found in Close.
Close, which is nominated for the Best International Film Oscar, opens in limited theatrical release this week.