krme I have watched this movie several times now. Being an American I must confess that I am rather dense when it comes to understanding the nuances of many European films. In the beginning I was very confused, there is almost no dialogue for the first ten minutes of the film, and then, what little dialogue there was I did not understand the language. I thought that my closed captioning was turned off. But no, it was not. These limitations, however, are strictly my own. As I watched repeatedly, with breaks in between viewings, I began to realize. In Daniel's world, his attractions to the younger "Eastern European Boys" must be conducted in secret. In darkened corners and away from prying eyes. This is because his attraction to teenage boys (presumably underage) is illegal, and treated as shameful, sick, deranged, even, perhaps deserving of pity. Marek's world is much the same, he plys his trade in the open, but retreats to the same shameful corners and dark spaces to arrange the sale of his services to those that would buy them. What this story is really about then is; how do these two men. One older, one younger learn to see each other as something other than the simple fulfillment of sexual desire and a source of income. That is what this movie depicts. At first we see them only as caricatures, stereotypes of what (American) society would expect of Daniel, as a man who desires sex with much younger men. We see Marek as the person who is paid to provide that service, and that's it.As the movie slowly (yes, slowly) unfolds so does their relationship. So, also, do their characters. We begin to see that something more than desire and object is happening here. Marek returns after his friends completely strip Daniel's home of literally everything they can carry. My first reaction when I saw him return and ring Daniels doorbell was to shout; "No! No! Don't open the door to him again!" I realized on the third viewing, that this seemingly stupid action on Daniel's part has great significance. It is representing the opening of his heart.For, perhaps the first time in his life, Marek experiences a love from Daniel that asks for nothing in return. He pleases Marek at each encounter, until Marek lets go of his layers of cynicism and protection. He open's his heart to Daniel. Over time they struggle, fight, make-up, discuss and negotiate and work their way toward a father and son relationship. Which, by the end of the movie is exactly what it has become. Or, perhaps the status of their relationship is left for the viewer to decide. I can see it going both ways.Yes, this film will challenge the way you look at attraction between disparate ages. Yes, this film my make you uncomfortable at times. However, if you watch with an open heart and an open mind you may see that love, compassion and respect can grow in the oddest of places. It took me a lot of time and many viewings to give this movie room to breathe in my heart. Once I did I was glad. It has become my favorite LGBT movie. Thank you for reading my review. I hope it helped.

Bodo EASTERN BOYS is the story of a middle-aged man developing a love interest with an Ukrainian rent boy. The boy's still caught up in gang life and his troubled condition as an immigrant in France complicate the relationship. EASTERN BOYS is part drama, part romance, a story told with relatively little words and carried by superb performances.All of the characters appear to be very real, and even the movie's "villain", the gang leader, is relatable and not one-sided. The relationship between the two main protagonists is similarly multi-faceted and interesting.Overall, the movie did keep me interested... but at times it just prodded along, bugged down by pacing issues. Especially the middle part of the movie had far too many short scenes with short musical interludes, which made everything seem blur together. Cinematographically, EASTERN BOYS looks decent but it also has a lot of generic shots and cuts... and a pretty bad overlaid images shot in a dance scene.All in all, a decent gay-themed romance drama that will keep you entertained, but it won't blow your mind.

ekeby While the portrayal of Eastern European teen prostitutes as predators may be spot on, in this instance their victim's passivity makes us wonder about the whole set up.The movie is well photographed and the actors are good, convincing even. It's the story line that didn't ring true for me. The 50 year-old john is a sophisticated Parisian. He's been around the block. We know something about him from his apartment's decor and his photographs. His initial reaction when a child bursts in accusing him of illegal sex is good, but once an entire gang of prostitute thugs takes over his apartment, his inaction is ridiculous. A man like that would have cut and run, admitted his bad judgment to the police and had the gang busted.After his apartment has been stripped bare, the gang's lure shows up and the guy lets him in and initiates what we are to believe is a tender, loving relationship.I'm not buying it. Could this have happened? Sure. But to a Parisian guy who picks up hustlers, presumably on a regular basis? No way, no how.That the object of his desire resembles a young Roman Polanski didn't help matters for me. I could see someone acting like a complete fool for a raving beauty with testosterone to spare, but this kid wasn't one by a long shot, IMO.This movie isn't worth watching guys. I think that for first world in-the-life gays, this will seem antique.

sesht (Screened as part of the myFrenchFilmFestival.com that is underway only on screens - the TV link does not work for most of the features and the shorts, no matter what anyone else might tell you).Full disclosure - the screening for this movie was not done, due to a technical glitch, and one of the organisers promised to screen it once again, and let us know when that would happen. This is a review of the first 70 minutes of the 129 minute movie.The movie begins just showing life as you pass it by in any public square, deceptively focusing on a group of characters who turn out to be the main prota/antagonists as the movie progresses. It puts us in the position of being a fly-on-the-wall, and for those rewarded with patience among their character traits, it is a rewarding set of sequences.When the plot finally takes off, we are blessed with the degree of involvement needed to take sides, be in the corner of the protagonists, as it were. It also helps understanding that what transpires thereupon, could happen to anyone. Scary, but surely true, in this day and age. It is a very tender tale, told with an appreciation for the nuances inherent in human relationships, with an eye for capturing really intimate moments that are usually glossed over in mainstream cinema, without offending sensibilities (or so I thought - but more on that later). The technical aspects are all fine, and complement the narrative as they should, never detracting from the tale being told, never calling attention to themselves, which is the way it should be - plot over everything else, substance over style, and so forth.The performances are also uniformly good, with the bulk of the responsibilities shouldered by the main protagonist played by Olivier Rabourdin (many many credits, including the 'Taken' franchise, Ma mère, Rois et Reine, 13 Tzameti, Crime d'amour, Midnight in Paris, Les Lyonnais, Grace of Monaco), who looks and acts like Kevin Spacey (without the showiness that he's becoming more famous for nowadays) in 'David Gale' mode, and that's nice to behold.As an aside, in a screening as a part of myFrenchFilmFestival.com, I got to see actual homophobia (no surprise actually, considering the mentality of most of this generation even, but being faced with it was another thing altogether). There were a group of professionals (!?) who walked in 30 minutes into the screening, were noisy getting in, noisier in all their whispering during their 15 minutes of watching the movie, and noisily shocked by the instances of physical intimacy between 2 consenting adults of the same gender, and ultimately walked out noisily. I wouldn't wish that kind of audience on any movie appreciating individual or group, but movie-watching nowadays, especially the specialty kind, seems to be more a test of patience and compromises lending themselves to being endurance and tolerance tests more than anything else.I'll update this review after watching the movie in its entirety, and since the organisers have not gotten back with details of the next screening of this flick like they promised they would, am not completely sure when that might be.