Close

Wow!. I'm glad I didn't know what this film was about, before watching it. The only thing I knew beforehand, is that it was about the close friendship between two young boys. I recommend watching this film with little to no knowledge of what happens, but make sure you have plenty of tissues ready to use. The acting performances of everyone in the movie is top shelf, but the two lead actors are truly exceptional, especially the lead actor "Eden Dambrine".

It's been a long time since a film has had such a BIG and profoundly deep impact on myself. It touched a part of my heart I had completely forgotten about, from my own childhood. I suspect many people will have a similar reaction. I'll be thinking about this movie for weeks to come and look forward to buying it on Blu-ray disc, when it is released. This brilliant movie has earnt a place in my top ten desert island collection of best movies ever. I can't recommend this movie enough - if you have a Heart, watch it. Highschool kids should watch this movie and discuss it afterwards.

Lukas Dhont is the name of one of Europe's most promising filmmakers, a director whose aesthetic goes right back to European classicists filmmakers such as Erik Rohmer. In Dhont's second feature, entitled Close, almost every strand of narrative is told through more or less disjointed scenes and segments, and every emotion and character development is implicit, often undercommunicated. The story is about two young friends from the Belgian countryside, Léo and Rémi, whose tightknit bond reaches a zenith the summer before they start secondary school. With new classes forming and hormones flowing, their special relationship is tested by means of peer pressure, conventions, and Léo's need for redefining himself and widening his horizons. This forces their pure, undefined love towards a definition that none of them have the maturity to outline.

Dhont had already made a name for himself with Girl in 2018, and his follow-up is equally hard-hitting, albeit arguably less obviously so. In Close, nothing is told or tackled head-on, instead we the audience is left with the task of deciphering and defining every single development. This is a form of moviemaking that had seemingly gone out of fashion in the post-streaming era, but which Dhont revitalizes emphatically here. His camerawork and patience with his actors is such that you become one with the characters. When his camera lingers on young Eden Dambrine as Léo, you're invited to a fusion between viewer and character; you become this young man and live out his predicament. If there ever was pure filmmaking, this is it. Which is why you also accept the small droplets of emotional manipulation that inevitably infuse the final part of the film.

Dhont's work is visually and narratively remarkable. But his most impressive feat with Close is how he has extracted masterclass performances out of his two inexperienced lead actors. The first third of the picture has a timelessness to it which is reminiscent of the Nouvelle Vague. And after the film's turning point, Eden Dambrine's expressive but understated face carries the story almost in a Brandoesque manner. His Léo is one of the best child performances in decades, and certainly on this side of the millennium, making Close a coming-of-age film for the ages.

I saw this at the NZIFF, it was a very well presented movie.

The changes from wide open fields of flowers and freedom for two young boys, to the drabness of a classroom and the sterile colours of an ice hockey rink.

Sound design was on point as well.

All of this was able to show the different worlds the characters inhabit

The main story hits some real emotional notes, some that hit very close to home for me. It doesn't pull it's punches.

The two lead boys, both are amazing, for boys so young to give such great performances. The adults do really well, especially Remis mother.

The emotions that the actors could portray, even without saying anything were extraordinary.

You're inseparable and enjoy your time together, you're best friends and will remain so, always forever, but as you start a new school year, there are those who joke and stare, as if there's more to being friends, that gives you pleasure. So you create a bit of distance to get space, but now your friend has got the feeling he's displaced, he's upset and quite distressed, feels let down and cast adrift, it takes you to a place, no teenage boy (or girl or non-binary) should face.

Great performances in a challenging piece of film that may get you thinking of how you behaved when you were that age and whether the events portrayed relate.

I've seen literally thousands of films and I have to say that "Close" ranks as one of the finest I've seen. As someone who had a very close friend who rejected me simply for who I am when I was younger, this film brought that experience so much more into focus for me that I openly wept throughout most of the last half of its running time. As a result, I found myself having a hard time forgiving the character of Leo as the film progressed, but eventually I felt I had no choice.

The performances and the chemistry between the two leads who play the main characters are so real and natural that at times I forgot I was watching a scripted and directed film rather than a documentary. I found the same true-to-life characterizations in Lukas Dhont's earlier film "Girl." He's clearly a very gifted director, and I would love to watch this man direct actors to understand how he's able to pull such amazing performances from them.

The film is also beautifully photographed, much of it taking place in the French countryside.

"Close" is reportedly going to be nominated for an Oscar here in the U. S., and I hope that helps it get the wide exposure to audiences it so richly deserves. The message in this superb, heartbreaking film is that friendships are so much more important than we actually realize and that as males, the toxic masculinity we encourage among ourselves can ruin lives.