The Man I love aka Lhomme que jaime (1997)

The Man I love aka L'homme que j'aime (1997)
GAY alternative lifestyle interest
English subs are hard encoded

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A.K.A.: L'homme que j'aime
Studio: Picture This! Home Video 1997, 87 min
Cast: Jean-Michel Portal, Marcial Di Fonzo Bo, Mathilde Seigner, Vittoria Scognamiglio
Director: Stéphane Giusti
Screenwriter: Stéphane Giusti

SYNOPSIS:

When Martin falls head over heels in love with Lucas, a straight(?) guy, one expects disappointment - but instead we are treated to one of the sweetest gay love stories.

This is a combination coming out and first love story. The swimmer and diver Lucard is interested in attractive Martin. The film follows the characters' coming out with all its difficulties, the bitter-sweet pleasures of first love and the dreadful moment when one comes down to reality and realizes that one's beloved friend has a hard way to go yet.


The positive message the film tries to transmit is the somewhat common motto "Live each day of your life as if it were your last."

REVIEW

From Stéphane Giusti, director of Why Not Me?, comes this earlier work – a captivating romantic drama of the relationship between an openly gay man whose relentless obsession for a straight man pays off in spades. Set in Marseilles, Martin is a carefree gay man who works as a pool attendant who falls hard for new lifeguard Lucas, a beautiful but sullen and quiet blond. Not the shy one, Martin, who is HIV-positive, showers Lucas with compliments and follows him around with almost puppy-dog admiration. But Lucas is living with his girlfriend Lise and seems unusually put off by the attention of the other man.


Persistence pays off, as the two young men tentatively form a friendship that leads to love. But as AIDS takes its physical toll on Martin and he becomes withdrawn, it is Lucas who must learn to care and love. A bittersweet but lighthearted tale of love and its transformative powers. (French with Hard encoded English subtitles)

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