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Presque Rien (Almost Nothing)



cast :

Jérémie Elkaim, Stéphane Rideau, Dominique Reymond, Marie Matheron, Laetitia Legrix

crew :

Directed by: Sébastien Lifshitz
Written by: Stéphane Bouquet and Sébastien Lifshitz
Produced by: Cécile Amillat
DOP: Pascal Poucet
Editor: Yann Dedet
Music Score by: Perry Blake

release date :

2000

On the surface ‘Almost Nothing’ (2000) is the story of how a young man, Mathieu (Jérémie Elkaim) falls in love with Cedric (Stéphane Rideau), how their love blooms and then eventually ends. What comes to light as the film progresses though is that this relationship is just one element of Mathieu’s very troubled mental state and how the many relationships in his life either fuel or are a symptom of that state.


We are introduced to the film with a very melancholy vocal track accompanied by a guitar track. We see Mathieu stood in the middle of a busy street, the colours are very dull, and he simply stands for a time. We follow him as he takes the train to a beach setting. As the train journey goes on Mathieu stares out of the window as the trees and passing scenes blur past the window, he also records some of his thoughts on a Dictaphone, leading the audience to feel that they have come across a very reflective character. This sets the tone for the rest of the film in that the audience is transported in time from these scenes, with the older Mathieu, then to the younger Mathieu during one summer when he, his sister, his depressed Mother and their helper Annick (Marie Matheron) were staying at the same beach and Mathieu originally met and fell in love with Cedric and scenes in a hospital where Mathieu spends a lot of time talking to a psychiatrist about Cedric, which can only be assumed to take place between the other two time zones.


What makes this film stand out from just being another film about ‘young love’ is that it is all about Mathieu and his ‘warped’ relationships. Mid way through the film Mathieu refers to his family as “My crazy sister and depressed Mother” which sums up the essence of the film. Mathieu has all these very troubled relationships in his life, so much so that he has developed a rather self-destructive attitude to any new relationships that may arise, which is where Cedric comes in.


To begin with Cedric almost hunts Mathieu like a predator to its prey. The early scene on the beach where Cedric simply stares at Mathieu and then follows him, and his sister home sets up how Cedric as a character is used to relationships in his life. As a viewer you are expecting this to be a very sexual, fast relationship, indeed this is probably on some level what Mathieu was expecting. What the viewer, and Mathieu gets instead is a very gentle relationship, Mathieu and Cedric begin with a kiss on the beach and see one another a few times before making love in a very gentle and non-gratuitous way so, as a viewer you are convinced the pair are in love. Later Mathieu is asked by his sister a series of very annoying questions, one of which seems to have a rather traumatic impact on Mathieu when she asks ‘are you in love?’ to which he does not reply. The next scene is of a very rough lovemaking moment where the two lovers do not make eye contact and you get the feeling as the viewer that the romance side has died and Mathieu has turned, or is trying to turn this into a physical rather than emotional relationship. This is perhaps in further response to one of his sister’s earlier questions; ‘isn’t it gross?’. Mathieu is doing that which is considered the negative aspect of his relationship by another person by focusing on the physical aspect; the part his sister sees as ‘gross’. After this Mathieu seems to start to slip away until Cedric becomes injured whilst climbing down into a cave and is then rushed to hospital where Mathieu meets Cedric’s father. The father seems to accept Mathieu, perhaps replacing his somewhat absent father who is referenced throughout the film. This then seems to aid the decision of the two young men living together in Nantes which, for a reason we are never told ends with the two breaking up and Mathieu seeing a psychiatrist.


These elements are beautifully portrayed by the two actors; Elkaim and Rideau and the two love making scenes contrasted together say it all. The first directed at night with extraordinarily little shown, creating a more intimate setting where you can feel the love these young men have for one another. The second shot in the harsh sun light from further away removing that intimate nature. To aid this contrast both scenes are shot on a beach. The almost cold way that Mathieu tells his mother that he is moving in with Cedric is brilliant, making it seem like he has removed all emotion from what should be a very happy and exciting occasion for a young man. This, as a viewer becomes the reason why we can assume this relationship died. Mathieu can only seem to accept his own relationship with Cedric if it is going to be frowned upon. His sister, Sarah is jealous of her brother’s relationship with Cedric. One scene in particular where she stares at them on the beach as they play around in the water, you can see very clearly that she feels forgotten and Cedric who has seen her staring runs around the beach with Mathieu almost stealing him from her. This seems to result in her then ultimately asking the question that seems to be the catalyst for destroying the relationship.


The nature of Mathieu’s character is established exceedingly early on in several scenes, most notably when he finds a dead bird on the ground. He takes this bird home and late at night when he can’t sleep, he picks up the bird, which he now has right next to his bed and strokes his lit cigarette through the bird’s feathers. He is established in this moment as a character attracted by ‘decay’ and that which is not decaying he is not interested in.


All these elements are communicated brilliantly by all the actors, and the lighting in the different time zones helps to set the scene whilst the use of music only in the latest time zone (post all these events) seems to illustrate a certain harmony that Mathieu has now found in his life. The trouble with these times zones and their use in the film is more frustrating from a viewer’s point of view. The scenes where Mathieu is in the hospital are almost redundant and interfere with the narrative; one could quite happily make up the sections between the relationship time zone and the late time zone. Hearing the psychiatrist ask a lot of questions about the relationship is just unnecessary and difficult to digest. This middle time zone helps those people who nipped to the toilet mid-way the film to catch up.


Having said this the way that Mathieu nurtures the very thin cat that eats from the same food as he does in the later time zone works very nicely, the cat, like the bird exemplifies the state of his relationships – Mathieu is only interested in something that decays, the health of this cat is undeniably poor so Mathieu is happy to share his food and life with it, at least for the few scenes it is in, even referring to him as ‘my little prince charming’ making that connection to Cedric. Had this been a healthy cat he would not have been interested.


The scene where Mathieu realises Cedric has hurt himself when he climbs into the cave seems rather forced in the sense that the writer almost needed a quick way to keep Mathieu interested in the relationship after we saw the lack of love in the second love making scene. Either this love scene needed to come later or as viewers we needed to not see anything further in this time zone. The part with Cedric’s father accepting Mathieu, whilst relevant is a little obvious for what has been a rather symbolic film so far and is almost a disappointment that it is included. What is nice about the rest of the film is that everything seems to happen by chance but the introduction of Cedric’s father is ‘set-up’ as a device and the organic nature of the film disappears for the 10 minutes that we are dealing with this element.


Similarly, earlier in the film when we are introduced to Cedric’s ex-boyfriend is a plot device to firstly allow us to hear about Cedric’s prostitution background, which as a viewer we could do without. Cedric is rather brilliantly played, and the viewer can piece his background together by themselves; this film is about Mathieu. Secondly the ex-boyfriend is introduced so Mathieu has someone to sum up the film with at the end and again one is left with the feeling that this is perhaps for the viewer who went to the toilet mid-way through the film again.


These aspects understood it is without a doubt that this film is a wonderful exploration of how some people have a self-destructive approach to all their relationships ultimately pushing others away from them. The juxtaposition of the opening and closing scenes work very nicely to sum up the film. To begin with Mathieu is on the hectic street alone but surrounded by busy people racing past him and at the end he is sat on a cold beach staring as Cedric’s ex-lover plays football with a young boy. This sums up the film, Mathieu begins surrounded by family but still feels alone and by the end he has resigned himself to be the outsider, watching and observing. This is a film about how Mathieu changes the nature of his relationships and, whilst he may look miserable and seem lonely, this is how he wants it!


Watch

Country: France
Budget: £
Length: 93mins

Pub/2008


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