Lie With Me | Dir Oliver Peyon | DATE | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Based on a hugely successful autobiographical novel by Philippe Bresson, this emotionally charged film takes us to the picturesque countryside of the south west of France.
Acclaimed author Stéphane Belcourt (Guillaume de Tonquebec) returns to the small village of his childhood after 35 years, as an ambassador for the bicentennial celebration of a famous cognac and to launch his latest book.
Memories come flooding back from 1984 when he was a blond, bespectacled seventeen year old (Jérémy Gillet) making eye contact with the dark haired, charismatic Thomas (Julien De Saint Jean) in the high school corridor.
Stéphane always knew he was gay, even though being gay wasn’t an option in the small town, but Thomas was popular with the girls and had a girlfriend. When Thomas had asked to meet the young Stéphane at an abandoned gymnasium, and then later at the lake of an old quarry, flashbacks recreate the intensity of a first love, when that kind of love had to be kept a secret.
As an only son who was expected to work the family farm, Thomas knew that he was trapped, while Stéphane who was already a promising writer, could and did escape to follow his dream of becoming an author.
While signing his latest book, Stéphane meets a young man who reveals himself as Thomas’s son Lucas (Victor Belmondo). Stéphane hadn’t had any contact since Thomas disappeared after high school and he didn’t know he had a son.
As the two men spend more time together, Lucas needs to find out why his morose father always brightened up whenever Stéphane was mentioned on the television.
The title of Bresson’s novel translates as Stop With Your Lies and Pevon’s film Lie With Me is not only a tribute to the power of first love, but also the perils of being forced to hide it.
The film has been described as a French Brokeback Mountain, but it is more than just an intense affair that is doomed by circumstances. It shows the lasting impact on the future lives of the two young men and the impact to those around them.
Lie With Me is screening at Luna Leederville from 12th October, check out the trailer.
Lezly Herbert
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