This is a very well-told story about a young illegal Ukranian immigrant boy called Marek, who is cruised by a 40-ish gay male at Paris' Gare du Nord train station. This has been a place for men to pick each other up for decades... and has now - at least according to the film - been taken over by bands of illegal immigrants from Eastern Europe.
Daniel makes a date to see Marek the next day, but he gets a lot more than he expected when the entire band shows up and basically takes everything of value. He doesn't dare try to stop them, nor does he call the police afterwards. Strangely enough, however, Malek returns a few days later and they begin to see each other for sex on a regular basis. Little by little, the film becomes a discussion on love, trust and loyalty, not to mention a realistic portrayal of the problems faced by a lot of illegal immigrants trying to eke out a living in Paris through whatever means possible. The film is well paced, although a touch slow at the beginning, and the tension continues to mount until near the end when it becomes almost unbearable. The actors are all fine, especially Olivier Rabourdin as Daniel and Daniil Vorobyov as Boss, the leader of the pack.
The main problem with the film is that it occasionally lacks credibility for some of the characters' motivations. Why doesn't Daniel originally call the cops to report the theft of his things? More important, how does Daniel know where to find Marek when he goes looking for him? This is a major problem as it is not explained at all, and even worse, when Boss returns to Daniel's apartment, the surprise that awaits him makes no sense at all as it would have been impossible to prepare in advance. (I am being vague on purpose here). These are major errors in scriptwriting, but do not really take away from the emotional truths that the film is based upon. So it is a very good little film in its basic premises, but flawed somewhat in its execution. Nevertheless these flaws will not stop people from enjoying it on many levels, and it is definitely worth seeing.
Daniel makes a date to see Marek the next day, but he gets a lot more than he expected when the entire band shows up and basically takes everything of value. He doesn't dare try to stop them, nor does he call the police afterwards. Strangely enough, however, Malek returns a few days later and they begin to see each other for sex on a regular basis. Little by little, the film becomes a discussion on love, trust and loyalty, not to mention a realistic portrayal of the problems faced by a lot of illegal immigrants trying to eke out a living in Paris through whatever means possible. The film is well paced, although a touch slow at the beginning, and the tension continues to mount until near the end when it becomes almost unbearable. The actors are all fine, especially Olivier Rabourdin as Daniel and Daniil Vorobyov as Boss, the leader of the pack.
The main problem with the film is that it occasionally lacks credibility for some of the characters' motivations. Why doesn't Daniel originally call the cops to report the theft of his things? More important, how does Daniel know where to find Marek when he goes looking for him? This is a major problem as it is not explained at all, and even worse, when Boss returns to Daniel's apartment, the surprise that awaits him makes no sense at all as it would have been impossible to prepare in advance. (I am being vague on purpose here). These are major errors in scriptwriting, but do not really take away from the emotional truths that the film is based upon. So it is a very good little film in its basic premises, but flawed somewhat in its execution. Nevertheless these flaws will not stop people from enjoying it on many levels, and it is definitely worth seeing.