A Moment in the Reeds

I consider entering the world of gay movies as one of the most important points in my life and I feel like this movie now has a very special place in my heart. As someone who has watched many movies of this kind I I'm very critical when it comes to story telling as it usually tends to repeat itself over and over again with many clichés. This movie shows us once again how less is more. Every dialog is well put together and has it's purpose in storytelling, developing characters and explaining their experiences, therefore there is no unnecessary babbling that would take away the beauty of the moment. Director somehow manage to trick us not to feel the lack of conversation perhaps by bringing them together quickly, like they known eachother forever or they understand eachother at some level we can't comprehend. Yet when they do talk, it's overwhelming and we can learn so much about the different worlds they live in and also about passion they have for one another. Thing that bothers me is how easily this affection that seemed so strong broke at the end leaving us with that weird feeling of being deceived to believe in something that doesn't exist, which is why I think this story needs a sequel.

The truth is that this movie is part of a trend in gay European cinema of handsome refugees falling in love or lust with a local they've been hired to work with or for. This movie came out the same year as God's Own Country, which is raised by magnificent acting, editing and a story that went beyond the basics. Unfortunately, while this is not an awful movie, it pales in comparison. The actors do their job but the lead up to their first kiss is clumsy and everything after it is just badly paced and boring and you lose interest in the story, the characters. Instead of telling the story of gay refugees in Europe, it kind of fetishizes it in a weird way. It's not unwatchable but not as good as it should have been .

A Moment In The Reeds does build slowly, but truthfully I wouldn't want it any other way. It's all about the small moments.The emotional intensity between the two lead actors is great. Both giving completely natural, nuanced performances. Their shared chemistry on screen is captivating. This film has a lot more to offer than your typical erotic romance though. Both men are forced to confront issues in their lives that have long been ignored. Finland's beautiful countryside serves as a breathtaking backdrop to the emotional turmoil they're both going through. For fantasies unfortunately has to meet reality.

A Moment In The Reeds is an incredibly sensitive, seductive and poignant film. Impeccably directed with stunning cinematography and performances.

Great to see intelligent scripts and good production and direction in GLBTQI Cinema. A Moment In The Reeds, while obviously a Gay Love Story I think could an should be seen by any audience of any sexual orientation.

It's a 2017 Prize Winner from Finland , partly in subtitles but mostly In English. The three actors are Janne Puustinen as Leevi the Art Student returning home from Paris to assist his moody disapproving father renovate the family and his childhood cottage in Finnish Midsummer.

Boodi Kabbani is Tareq a handsome Syrian refugee who's been employed by Leevi's Dad Jouko as a labourer, even though in his own country he's a qualified architect and it's eventually obvious to Jouko not only that Tareq is highly skilled but also that Levi and Tareq have more in common than carpentry.

There's much more to this film than the attraction of the young men , anyone worried about the male sex scenes note the ratings . Sex and Nudity :moderate Violence and Gore :None Profanity : None Alcohol and Drugs /Smoking :mild Frightening/Inttnce scenes : none

It's contemporary setting shows the difference and difficulty of refugees trying to start a new life in a very foreign and suspicious culture and the deep rift that many Gay men experience with a parent or parents that just won't accept their children for who the are. It's interesting to me that with a some good exceptions European GLBTQ1 films are of a much higher quality and able to reflect stories that while obviously are aimed at The Queer film audiences also can resonate with any open minded progressive audience

Given the fact that it has overall a high score here, the reviews are often very bad. Like so much in life this makes no sense. The two young lead actors are good, and the sexuality that develops between them is convincing in its realism, and its poetic beauty. A young Finn comes ' home ' to Finland to spend his holiday with his father and in the summer house they partly live in there is a young Syrian refugee helping with refurbishments. At first I found this contrived but then all films are to a certain extent, but my reaction changed when the sexual and emotional tension develops through a long evening discussion about difference and identity. This long development led quite naturally into a passion that reminded me of ' Les Amants ' and had the same quality of surprising revelation in sex so rarely seen on the screen. To those who read this remember sexuality and desire are both equal, heterosexually and homosexually. This film transcends the often ghetto feeling of gay lives as depicted in the cinema, even among the best films and I watched it with the sort of reverence due to a film that is made up mostly of silence and the nature of a beautiful Northern country. But the copy I had was full of subtitles that were not that faithful ( a lot of the film is spoken in English between the lovers and the father ) as the young Syrian speaks English along with both the son and the lover. I am late in reviewing this and I have no reason why as I have seen it twice, and I repeat it is a slow ( in the best way ) experience filled with melancholy, the transitory nature of people who cannot truly unite for a future together and above all a poetry of place and sound only seen in the greatest of cinematic experiences. A film to be seen much more than once for all viewers , hetero, bi and homosexual.