Smalltown Boys

I'm always in for a gay themed movie, but this "Smalltown Boys" ("Garçons de Provence") is unfortunately a disappointment: the three episodes seemed as if they were each roughly cut out of their own bigger, more comprehensive movie and now were just floating isolated around, only sharing the small-town, rural setting. The first and third one at least had a remote, trunked-off narrative, the second one lacked even that. At best I could call the whole thing enigmatic, but that would in fact be a euphemism for "incomprehensible".

Maybe the thing that bound the parts of this triptych together was the fact that in each episode there was an egotistical main character, who rebuffed some other person who yearned in vain for their attention and affection. But for the rest it all eluded my (too simple?) brain. In every episode there were innuendos of stories behind what we got to see: some loose remarks, some casual actions; but these never led to anything. A pity, maybe director/writer Gaël Lépingle had better chosen just one of this trio (preferably the last one, that seemed the most promising), with a chance to elaborate on the background of the (supposed) story and make it into a more complete, full-blooded film.

Anyway, the boys all look good, and the photography of especially the second episode was very dreamlike and atmospheric. But that's about it.