“LIKE A BROTHER”–the carnality of youth

“LIKE A BROTHER”

The Carnality of Youth

Amos Lassen

There is something about the way the French make movies and make love. Put the two ideas together and you have dynamite. “Like a Brother” (WaterBearer Films) is just that. It intensely describes a youth who is torn between childish love and masculine desire. As Sebastien (who changes his name to Zack) explores the limits of his sexuality, there is a thrill, there is excitement and there is insecurity. We all know how awkward self discovery can be and how painful it is as well. The most difficult years any of us face ate those years in which we come of age and our raging hormones overtake us. We must not only deal with the heightened sexuality of puberty but we also have to find out who we are.

Sebastien, our hero, experiences the same feelings, the same questions and the same uncertainties. He wants to be someone else—he is not happy with who he is.

Sebastien realizes that to fulfill his dream of self-discovery he must leave the small town of his youth. Thus, he moves to Paris because he wants to succeed as an actor and he reinvents himself. Gone is the old Sebastien and in his place is Zack. Zack represents to him everything Sebastien is not. Away from his family he can pursue his dreams and live freely as a gay man. This is exemplified beautifully in the opening scene of the movie when we see him primping before the mirror as he prepares to make his nightly foray to the city’s most fashionable gay bars. He is looking for love and as he movies from trick to trick, from man to man, he becomes convinced that sexual fulfillment and emotional strength are not in the offing.

Ashe ay alone one night, his mind takes him back to the small town when times were happier and there was no such thing as loneliness. He recalls the friendship he had with best pal Romain and he realizes that was what love was—he and Romain.

But time and distance have taken Roman from him until one day he calls and says that he is coming to Paris. Zach sees this as a sign that new life will be blown into their relationship which remains unrequited. Zack is force3d to make some big decisions so that he can live an honest life.

.         A sense of sexual abandon saturates this film as it pulsates with sexual energy. As Zack stands on the threshold of adulthood he must decide between his “boyish love” and his “manly passions”.

What great insight is provided by this film!!!!!!!! A look into the young mind gives us the chance to better understand ourselves.

The French have done it again with another powerful movie and we are so lucky to have it. It is just not fair that it was not around when I was growing up.

It is a beautiful and sincere look at becoming a man and told with unbridled passion. “Like a Brother” is one of the first of the new crop pf films to greet us in 2007 and I believe it will remain on the top list for the year to come. Start your new year off by having a look at it. Maybe we did not go through the period the way Sebastien/Zack did, but regardless it will trigger memories.