Eastern Boys (2013)

Overrated

A Disappointing Continuation

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This movie lingers so much that it's running time is filled with nothing substantial, which is a great shame as the premise feels like it could have grown to more had the pace been quickened to include more meaningful interaction. Instead we're given a bare bones story, where characters are underdeveloped and there doesn't seem to be any real connection between the two main characters. Other than simple pity I see no reason for the older characters actions. There is no personal drivers to keep the characters interacting. A bit of depth is given during a scene with fireworks, but it's the one time we're given insight into a character's inner mind and emotions. I stuck with the whole movie as reviewers said I'd gain something from the ending, however the journey felt paper thin and there was nothing to be learnt from the movie.I've given it a four as the movie has some moments of promise and it's cinematography is visually nice.

(Screened as part of the myFrenchFilmFestival.com that is underway only on screens - the TV link does not work for most of the features and the shorts, no matter what anyone else might tell you).Full disclosure - the screening for this movie was not done, due to a technical glitch, and one of the organisers promised to screen it once again, and let us know when that would happen. This is a review of the first 70 minutes of the 129 minute movie.The movie begins just showing life as you pass it by in any public square, deceptively focusing on a group of characters who turn out to be the main prota/antagonists as the movie progresses. It puts us in the position of being a fly-on-the-wall, and for those rewarded with patience among their character traits, it is a rewarding set of sequences.When the plot finally takes off, we are blessed with the degree of involvement needed to take sides, be in the corner of the protagonists, as it were. It also helps understanding that what transpires thereupon, could happen to anyone. Scary, but surely true, in this day and age. It is a very tender tale, told with an appreciation for the nuances inherent in human relationships, with an eye for capturing really intimate moments that are usually glossed over in mainstream cinema, without offending sensibilities (or so I thought - but more on that later). The technical aspects are all fine, and complement the narrative as they should, never detracting from the tale being told, never calling attention to themselves, which is the way it should be - plot over everything else, substance over style, and so forth.The performances are also uniformly good, with the bulk of the responsibilities shouldered by the main protagonist played by Olivier Rabourdin (many many credits, including the 'Taken' franchise, Ma mère, Rois et Reine, 13 Tzameti, Crime d'amour, Midnight in Paris, Les Lyonnais, Grace of Monaco), who looks and acts like Kevin Spacey (without the showiness that he's becoming more famous for nowadays) in 'David Gale' mode, and that's nice to behold.As an aside, in a screening as a part of myFrenchFilmFestival.com, I got to see actual homophobia (no surprise actually, considering the mentality of most of this generation even, but being faced with it was another thing altogether). There were a group of professionals (!?) who walked in 30 minutes into the screening, were noisy getting in, noisier in all their whispering during their 15 minutes of watching the movie, and noisily shocked by the instances of physical intimacy between 2 consenting adults of the same gender, and ultimately walked out noisily. I wouldn't wish that kind of audience on any movie appreciating individual or group, but movie-watching nowadays, especially the specialty kind, seems to be more a test of patience and compromises lending themselves to being endurance and tolerance tests more than anything else.I'll update this review after watching the movie in its entirety, and since the organisers have not gotten back with details of the next screening of this flick like they promised they would, am not completely sure when that might be.

Most people in the West know that being gay in Eastern Europe isn't easy. However, the most difficult aspect of being a gay Eastern European - like yours truly - isn't the danger of the situation, or severing the ties to your family, or finding an opportunity to work in a Western country. No, the most difficult thing is that, once one is there, one is constantly confronted with the stereotypes pictured in this film and many others.Here, we have a well-off man in his 40s cruising a hustler in a station, foolishly giving him his address because he isn't free that day. It's not just the hustler who shows up for the date, but also his peers. They clear the man's apartment, which he stoically endures. To make up for it, the hustler returns later for the promised sex and keeps coming back. The man falls in love with him but the boy's motives remain unclear.The way the story plays out gives very good testimony to older Western gays' fantasies of very young manipulative (or manipulable) Eastern rent-boys. In their media, they ignore that rent-boys of Eastern origin are usually straight, in reality it's actually very important to them, as they consider paying for sex with other gays unnecessary. They dream of a 'love story' in which they wield all material and emotional power, and that their partner is a much younger willful tool. Since this is (fortunately) unlikely with the more liberated gay generation of today, they project this fantasy on poor refugees.If 'Eastern Boys' can be interesting for straight audiences, then because it shows how superficial gay men can be, and that stereotypes in our community can be just as pervasive and mean as those women are often subjected to. If you want to get a taste of what the situation of rent-boys is really like, there are a number of documentaries which deal with the issue, such as 'Rent Boys' AKA 'Die Jungs vom Bahnhof Zoo' by Rosa von Praunheim (Germany) or 'Not Angels but Angels' by Wiktor Grodecki (Czech Republic).'Eastern Boys', on the contrary, is a disrespectful charade. Western gays advocate their rights emphatically. They should respect that such a cliché depiction is highly offensive to Eastern gays - and enforces stereotypes faced at home, namely that being gay is a sign of Western decadence, weakness and psychological disorder. We are people, not your objects of desire.

Most will be familiar with Campillo's work from the TV adaptation of his film The Returned, Eastern Boys shares many of the same qualities of the TV show; a poetic approach to actions that are usually bluntly handled in cinema. Somehow Campillo manages to seamlessly combine several paradoxical elements and genres and still create an elegant and complete film. The opening scenes are enough to cement the atmosphere of the film, as you are introduced to the eastern boys of the title, hanging around in the Gare du Nord, but it takes an impressive amount of time before their occupation becomes clear, and even then the plot meanders in ways that you may not be expecting. Olivier Raboudin and newcomer Kirill Emelyanov are exceptional in the central roles, but Daniil Vorobyev is a revelation as the scene stealing psychotic boss, a performance which easily matches Gary Oldman's Stanfield from Leon. These characters and all the supporting roles are skillfully captured with a minimal and subtle script, that highlights Campillo's peculiar and under appreciated talent to bring cold environments to life.