It has been a while since I saw a really touching and heart warming, tender and electrifying, gay coming of age story done with such sensibility and sensitivity. An engaging story with superb performances, his movie stayed with me much longer after the film had ended.
Pim, is a 15 year old boy living in a coastal town with his fading beauty queen mom. He is friends with a neighboring family and he is totally in love with Gino, 18 year old son of the family. Pim is a shy guy who doesn't talk much and lives in his own world where he like to paint and draw. He takes care of his mother and other household activities. Having played as kids together, Pim and Gino had been involved in some kid sex moments but things change when one night they get an opportunity to sleep together. They slowly start falling in love, at least Pim does. They do a lot of excursions on Gino's bike and make love to each other. Gino's sister Sabrina has a total crush on Pim. Totally oblivious of her infatuation, Pim is totally fixated with Gino. After sometime, Gino wants to do things 'right' and so he moves out of the house and gets a girlfriend. This totally breaks Pim's heart. Sabrina wants to use this opportunity to come close to Pim but soon finds out that he loves Gino. It takes sometime but Pim slowly starts to come to terms with Gino dumping him. Enter Zoltan, a young hippie who used to live with Pim's family as a paying guest and has now returned as fully grown young man. It turns out that Zoltan was Pim's first ever crush and his feelings all come back but his dreams are crushed again when he finds that Zoltan and his mother are now a couple and they flee the city leaving Pim all alone. At this time, Gino's mother gives him shelter. Pim becomes a part of their family with Sabrina and her mother. Health take s a toll on Sabrina and Gino's mother and she does. The 3 kids are on their own now. Time moves on and Gino returns. This time he is looking for real and true love and however hard Pim tries, he will this time not be able to send Gino back.
This film had so many tender and sweet and lovely moments. All the scenes where Gino and Pim try to get each other eyes in presence of other members was very sweet. It was sweet to see Sabrina's crush and how she would wanna serve orange juice to Pim every time he would walk in. These small moments as teenagers makes this film so real. The love and moments of passion that Gino and Pim share are real and filled with love. At no point , we feel that Gino is using Pim. As it always happens, one person just happens to fall in love with the other person much strongly than the other person. And Gino ultimately does come around. The whole Zoltan sequence and how Pim starts behaving in his presence has also ben handled very intelligent. There are scenes where the characters tease each other sexually and thats what keeps the proceedings going. The film is packed with moments that truthfully reveal internalised feelings of joy and longing. Gino and Pim have both acted superb in this film. I was specially bowled over by Pim's acting skills and how his eyes spoke so much more for him. This is a remarkably honest depiction of adolescence with a terrific range of sharp characters comprising of the 2 mothers, teenager kids, Zoltan and even the guy who feels sidelined in love with Pim's mother.
There are moments that are heartbreakingly intense as well as beautifully hopeful. As it covers a span of years, the story encompasses a remarkable range of experiences and emotions, all portrayed with both artistry and authenticity. Kudos to the director for attempting something so beautiful and brave and to the brilliant acting by pretty much everyone, even the waitress in the texas bar who had only 2 lines to speak with Pim in the entire film. This film was real and soooooo beautiful. (8.5/10)
Comments
OST is so nice. Wooly Clouds ^^
The director at the Q&A after the screening said that he had tested 200 boys before he found the right "Pim", whom he found only two weeks before shooting began. He said that the actor, Jelle Florizoone, who had had ballet training and therefore was a hugely disciplined performer, was extremely professional on set, totally immersing himself into this character (which is apparently quite different from the actor's true personality). The director also said that while Belgium is an immensely liberal country (one of the first, if not THE first, to legalize gay marriage, for example), it was difficult to cast the boy leads for this film, since since either auditioning actors themselves would not return for call-backs once they fully realized that it was a gay movie, or else some of the parents would not LET their boys be in the movie (he said that one father even threatened to kill the director for even auditioning his son for such a part). In fact, Mathius Vergels, the handsome boy who played Gino, revealed to the director recently that he had not let his father know that this was a gay film, because his father would not have let him be in it. (Part of the problem is that the actors required are quite young. Jelle was 14. Mathius, I think, was 15.) Also, peculiarly, in another liberal country, Sweden, youth audiences revealed quite clearly that they hated the movie because it was gay (this actually doesn't surprise me, as Sweden also has a skinhead faction that has been quite violent at gay pride parades). Fortunately, that was not the normal reception; for example, in Italy the movie was phenomenally well-received by youth audiences.
The film was beautiful and touching and hopeful, and I would love to see more feature films in the future from this sensitive director, Bavo Defurne.
i really love it. specially the soundtrack...
:)
I had the film and never had the courage to start because was afraid of some pedophily story. Reassured by Your comment , spent many hours to watch and rewatch again . Many scenes ( the lipstick and the tiara ) I lived myself during my teen years. And the end , one of happiest gay movie's end . i owe You this feeling of happiness .
I believe we all have a part of Pim within ourselves.
No need to say more, your review says it all.
A must watch in my opinion, I would rank it nine.