Do Not Own
Just a Question of Love
Review by: Lauren
Country: France
Just a Question of Love tells the story of the relationship between Laurent and Cédric. Laurent is a college student living with and pretending to be in love with his best friend Carole, to hide the fact that he’s gay. His aunt and uncle’s son, Marc, was also gay but kicked out and abandoned when he revealed the fact. Even when Marc falls ill and eventually passes, Laurent is the only one in his family willing to go and visit him. As such, Laurent keeps his sexuality a secret and uses Carole as a cover for his family, who he loves too much to be honest and risk losing them.
During school, Laurent is given an internship to help him graduate, for he’d been slacking off ever since Marc died. This is where he officially meets Cédric, who is in charge of his internship. As time goes on, the two finally begin a relationship, but Laurent still refuses to be honest and Cédric won’t live a lie. Though the two are in love, they can’t seem to reconcile their differences, leading to a very emotional second half.
Just a Question of Love is a French film (though I watched it with the English subtitles) that is emotional, sweet, funny, passionate, and true. This isn’t a big action film, but rather one that deals on a more simple level to provide you with a story that could ring true for a lot of people. The main actors Cyrille Thouvenin (Laurent) and Stéphan Guérin-Tillié (Cédric) did an amazing job. Their chemistry on screen made me believe that this story could be real.
Do Not Own
Just a Question of Love is a great film and I’d definitely recommend it to those who are at all interested. I especially love the overall message, which was simply and beautifully put by Laurent: “It’s not a question of gay or straight. It’s just a question of love.”
Note: I know this is only our second film review for the site, but I did want to mention that not everything will be a foreign film. There just happen to be a lot of great LGBT films that aren't from the United States.
2 comments:
Thanks for highlighting this film. It sounds lovely.
I was just discussing this the other day. I think we in the US are still fairly uptight about sexuality versus Europe, etc. who seem much more at ease regarding the subject. :)
Lisa ~ YA Literature Lover
Lisa: You're welcome, and it really is a great film. Very simple, but emotional.
Yes, they are! The U.S. seems to focus more on violence and shun sexuality, while Europe (or at least England I believe) seem to do the opposite. Honestly, I'd shun more of the violence and embrace the sexuality.
-Lauren
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