Nous étions un seul homme

I've read some of the longer reviews and I agree with most of the criticisms, but there was something compelling to watch here. Was it just the sheer uniqueness of this gay themed movie? Was it because it was set during WWII? Or was it mostly because the leads were young and attractive, especially Rolf? The crazy French peasant with stout gluts and the hyperactivity of a 12 year old held my attention throughout. And Rolf, the brooding, athletic German soldier was just too handsome to NOT look at. I wanted to feel sympathy for the Frenchman, but he was just too unpredictable, hyper and mental that it was doubtful he could ever blossom into a fully adult male, capable of a deep human bond. The Nazi came from a very oppressed, homophobic background which is why he decided to stay with his newfound, though crazy pal/lover. Had a crazy ending, not surprising. Seems the Frenchman could never allow his new German lover to ever leave, so he did what seemed most logical - to him. Fortunately, the movie had some comical undertones; otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it at all. It would have been just too sad, pathetic and crazy!!!

I love this one because it's different and he tells a story on how love can be dangerous and has no boundaries the German was supposed to kill guy but Love takes over .

A young peasant farmer rescues a wounded German soldier towards the end of WWII in rural France. At first they are mutually suspicious of each other, but slowly a bond starts to grow between them and.... Serge Avedikian is convincing as "Guy" - the rather eccentric, shall we say, young Frenchman whom the locals leave to his farm as a bit of a simpleton; Piotr Stanislas as his German friend "Rolf", however, is much less so and therein lies the problem with this story - it just doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't need end to end shagging - indeed there is really only one sexual scene in the performances (asides from Guy's assignations with the local hooker), but the development of their relationship seems to grow in disjointed fits and starts; there is nothing consistent in the way the story progresses. The ending - though touching- makes little, if any, sense. Perhaps 40 years have not helped it, it may well have been much more a remarkable piece of man-to-man cinema in 1979, but now it is just all rather lost, with too much of the dialogue replaced by a rather annoying jaunty score.

Some of the acting was atrocious; in particular that of the "mad man", who, in my state, wouldn't meet the criteria to be institutionalized. Even if he were very insane nothing about the way he talked or moved seemed in any way realistic. I thought briefly that perhaps he was purposefully a caricature of some sort for artistic reasons, but quickly decided that didn't work. Then there was the killing of animals. So it was wartime in France and rabbets are food; no problem there. But I really wish I hadn't seen the dog killed for no apparent reason. Nothing in the plot justifies killing a dog. If you like dogs you shouldn't see this movie.

There is truly nothing like "We Were One Man," a twisted, brave film that looks at a man-man relationship through new eyes. The way the men treat each other is hard to watch, and the ending somehow does not ring true to their earlier actions. It is almost too heavy-handedly symbolic. Still...there is an earthy, grimy quality to their sexual relationship that is fascinating to watch. This one is for gay foreign film fans, gay sadists, or very open-minded foreign film buffs only.