"Close" -- Movie Review

 

This week at Lincoln Center, I attended a special screening of the new Belgian drama “Close”, written and directed by Lukas Dhont. 

Synopsis

When a friendship between two boys abruptly ends, can one of them come to terms with the cause?

Story

In the Flemish region of Belgium, Leo and Remi are a pair of “tween” boys living their best life.  They always ride their bike together to and from school, sit next to each other in their classes, sleep over at each other’s house – you get the idea.  But the two boys are quite different from each other; Leo is a bit more outgoing while Remi is a bit of an introvert – in addition, Leo is more of an athlete while Remi is a bit of an intellect.  Remi studies music and plays the oboe for his school’s music group.  Because the two spend so much time together – largely to the exclusion of others – a number of their classmates grow suspicious. 

One day, Leo decides to join the school’s hockey team – while he’s not exactly the best skater, he’s enthusiastic and enjoys both the competition and camaraderie with his teammates.  Due to the fact that he’s now spending a considerable amount of time at hockey practice and as a result developing a new set of friends, he finds himself spending less and less time with Remi.  While Leo doesn’t recognize a change in their friendship, Remi, who is something of a loner when not with Leo, certainly does notice the difference.  He is feeling ignored and believes himself to be unwelcome in Leo’s new life. 

After a class field trip for which Remi is noticeably absent, Leo and his fellow students are shocked by some tragic news upon their return to the school:  Remi has died from an apparent suicide.  Leo is understandably stunned at the loss of someone he perceived as his best friend.  In retrospect, Leo tries to retrace their friendship; towards the end, he does remember Remi seeming more distant and less inclined to be part of Leo’s new circle.  Leo desperately tries to get on with his life but the distractions disappear when he’s alone and turns introspective.  Sophie, Remi’s mother, discovered her son in his room.  When Leo confronts Sophie, can the two get closure with the loss of Remi?

Review

It might be thought that “Close” is a story about suicide or coming of age or homosexual discovery in youth.  However, there may be another angle:  toxic masculinity, which can begin early in life.  In this movie, the boys are taunted for their tight-knit friendship – the taunts mostly come from other boys, but interestingly, sometimes from girls, too (although occasionally in a much more nuanced fashion).  Regardless, it is certainly difficult to watch.  Some critics have observed that one strike against the film is the fact that it has a somewhat manipulative ending which detracts from the rest of the story; this is correct and it is unfortunate. 

Despite that, the performances are quite good, especially, by Eden Dambrine, who plays Leo.  This young man is not a professional actor, which makes the portrayal all the more remarkable.  The story behind how he got cast in “Close” is rather interesting; the director found him during a train ride when the boy was talking to his friends.  By both his look and his behavior he thought that he would be perfect for the role, so he introduced himself and gave him his business card; his parents then brought him in for an audition and it became apparent that casting him was a no-brainer.  It turned out to be an excellent choice.    

There was an interview with director/writer Lukas Dhont following the screening.  Dhont said that he got the original idea for the screenplay after reading a book called “Deep Secrets”, in which the author interviewed about 150 boys in their early teen years, then followed-up with them five years later.  In the original interviews, the author asked the boys about their friendships with other boys; the way in which they described them was almost like love stories.  During the later follow-up when the same boys were age 17 or 18, they were asked the same question; it was discovered that at this later point in their life, the boys didn’t allow themselves that same type of emotional connection.