In this hyperrealistic fiction, Patrice Chéreau describes the complexity and richness of fraternal relationships, and bluntly shows the upheaval caused by an illness which hand't yet revealed its true nature.
One evening, Thomas turns up at his brother Luc's. They haven't spoken in a while. Thomas tells his brother he suffers from a blood disease: his platelet count is falling fast, he could begin hemorrhaging at any moment. Panicked, he asks Luc to accompany him to the hospital where he must return the next day after a three-month stay. Hospitalised right away, Thomas asks Luc to stay and help him through the agony of the illness. In those painful moments, the brothers rediscover each other and overcome barriers drawn between them since childhood: Luc's homosexuality and their father's preference for Thomas, the eldest. “Why couldn't Luc catch this fucking thing instead?” exclaims the father, as Thomas's illness tears some apart while it brings the others closer...
Without any false modesty, Patrice Chéreau takes a surgical and tender look at the complexity of frathernal relationships, perfectly summed up by Luc in this ambiguous line: “I'm not interested in my brother at all. I would have loved to have a brother!”
Distribution
With Bruno Todeschini (Thomas), Éric Caravaca (Luc), Maurice Garrel (the old man), Antoinette Moya (the mother), Fred Ulysse (the father), Nathalie Boutefeu (Claire)
Direction Patrice Chéreau
Scenario Patrice Chéreau, Anne-Louise Trividic
After the eponymous novel by Philippe Besson
Images Éric Gautier, Irina Lubtchansky, Pascale Marin, Jean-Christophe Cameau
Sound Guillaume Sciana, Olivier Burgaud
Production
Co-production ARTE France, Azor Films