esrosedotblog

Gaspard Ulliel carries a film of longing and despair for an unrequited love.

Never a very happy situation and so this film is filled with frustration and remorse.

Le dernier jour / The Last Day (2004)

Ulliel carries the burden here with grace and dignity and more than a little masochism.

He comes to visit the family only to find the family fractured. On the way he has met a young woman who he invites to come with him. Obvious cover.

A lot of what he does is unconscious and doesn't make any sense until we understand that his real reason to return is to meet a young love Matthieu who, as straight boys do, has grown out of his teen homoerotic phase. This is not an unusual situation. Those straight boys will make you crazy if you hold on to the idea that someday they too will switch sides. I know all about it.

In this beautiful Cape Breton located film there is little relief for Simon and though he tries, he cannot get himself out of it. It does not help that there is no one to talk to but he has set that up with the straw girlfriend.

More complications when we find that the father he hates is not really his father. I suppose this is a spoiler but hardly a matter of suspense in viewing the film. The guy is kind of a dick and so it goes.

It is a sad film but nicely composed, beautiful to watch and achingly beautiful to watch the young Ulliel carry the burden.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films