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J'ai rêvé sous l'eau (I Dreamt Under the Water)



cast :

Hubert Benhamdine, Caroline Ducey, Christine Boisson, Hicham Nazzal, Franck Victor

crew :

Directed by: Hormoz
Written by: Hormoz, Phillipe Arrizabalaga
Produced by: Sebastien Bernet
DOP: Sebastien Joffard
Editor: Franck Nakache
Music Score by: Muriel Moreno

release date :

2008

‘I Dreamt Under the Water’ (2008) follows 22-year-old Antonin (Hubert Benhamdine) through the bleak urban setting of the suburbs of Paris as he struggles to find love and stability during the summer of 1999. Antonin harbours deep unrequited love for his best friend Alex (Franck Victor) yet this goes unreciprocated as Alex dies in his arms following a drugs overdose. Traumatised by this, Antonin's life proceeds to spin out of control as he descends into a nocturnal underworld of sexual encounters with male strangers and becoming a rent boy. He eventually finds the stability he is looking for when he meets the beautiful and mysterious Juliette (Caroline Ducey) whom he falls in love with rapidly. Antonin is happy for a fleeting period, but his life is once again shattered to pieces when Juliette is revealed to be a drug addict like his former love and also discloses that she does not love him as he loves her. He returns to a former 'client' of his, Baptiste (Hicham Nazzal), who ultimately gives him the love that he deserves and a shoulder to lean on during hard times.


The debut film from director Hormoz Borbor, ‘I Dreamt Under the Water’ is sparse on dialogue, but what it lacks in talk, it makes up for in visual imagery. Better known as a photographer, exhibiting for the Parisian collective Queer Factory, Hormoz uses the camera to best effect to tell the story. Using a muted palette of blacks, greys, and beiges, Hormoz shows how Antonin finds it hard to see a way out of his tormented life as we struggle to make out the dimly lit images. The intuitive use of colour also helps to set the tone and mood for some of the more difficult scenes. The most interesting examples of colour use being during the scenes in which Antonin starts to have encounters with other men in a secluded area. Antonin descends a flight of steps at night, showing that he has entered a different world, one of darkness and uncertainty. The light that bathes this world and enables us to watch Antonin traverse his way is red, holding a great amount of significance. Traditionally, red lights are what a prostitute uses to tout his/her services; the red light is on, so, business can commence. This interpretation foreshadows Antonin's decision to become a rent boy. Red is also the colour of passion or anger, we go red when we are embarrassed, perhaps adding weight to the fact that Antonin is placed in a submissive sexual role and the red light masks his embarrassment. On the other hand, it is primarily the scenes when Antonin is working as a rent boy that are only lit in red adding indication that Hormoz wants us to know that Antonin is treating these encounters as strictly a business transaction and nothing romantic.


The first of these encounters is the most graphic as we witness Antonin at first kissing and taking amyl nitrate (or poppers, used in the gay community for its muscle relaxing properties along with causing a mild euphoric rush as it stimulates blood flow to the head causing flushing of the face) with a stranger who leads him to a quiet spot where other men join them gradually until we lose count of how many men are participating. The camera focuses very tightly on Antonin's face, often losing sight of him as men stand in the way and shift positions. There are cutaways to the opening of a condom wrapper and the face of a man as he begins intercourse with Antonin. There is no extra diegetic sound, all we hear is the sounds of the night and the noises of the men as they crowd around Antonin, groaning and masturbating at his face. Antonin is on his knees in what appears to be a degrading position as no other men are kneeling with him and he appears submissive throughout. The scene ends with a close-up of Antonin's face as the other men walk away whilst he appears to masturbate to climax.


The few well-lit scenes in the film show Antonin at his happiest, such as when he is with his mother, Fabienne (Christine Boisson). However difficult their relationship seems; they are always illuminated and when he is with Juliette we see them together mostly outside in the daylight. When they make love, there is only the white of their sheets in the background which implies ideas of purity and peacefulness. Antonin is happy and finally at peace within their relationship, and within their whirlwind romance he leaves his life of vice behind and appears to forget all about his love for Alex. Juliette is now his life completely. The only connection to his old life is the video store he works in with his former client Baptiste who is incidentally the only ‘client’ we see in a lit setting. All others are shown in dark rooms, especially an early encounter where Antonin’s sleeping partner examines him closely by torchlight.


Camera movement is also important; in the opening scene Antonin’s band is being filmed on a hand-held camera by a friend. As Antonin walks away, the camera follows in the hand-held style. Throughout certain sequences, the handheld effect reoccurs to create the effect that we, the viewers are following him. This effect can be unsettling as we could be told through dialogue alone that Antonin is a rent boy, however we follow him to each appointment, watching him at work. This places the viewer in the position of the voyeur who may or may not enjoy watching; Hormoz created a more polarised reaction during the more graphic scenes. The use of graphic imagery may be used to test the reaction of viewers, whether they are just voyeurs or scopophiles deriving some form of pleasure from Antonin’s experiences. The feeling implied throughout that the viewer is the one following Antonin is also intensified by the fact that there is no significant use of the shot/reverse shot technique which is used to designate the image seen to the spectator. This is important as it is left to the spectator to provide the reaction to what is seen, rather than a hidden character who has been watching. The camera also seems to be behind or adjacent to Antonin adding to the effect that the viewer is following him.


Antonin is typical of queer sexuality in that he does not project or claim to have a fixed sexual identity. He neither declares himself gay, straight or bisexual so we must then refer to him on his behalf as queer as it is a term that covers all sexual preferences and identities. Many gay people do not identify themselves with gay culture and lifestyle or even represent themselves as gay. There is nothing inherent to the gay identity and a person alone cannot be determined as gay, there is nothing within physical appearance to indicate such a thing. Antonin does not fit within any familiar gay stereotypes from his appearance and mannerism and does not declare himself to be gay.


As the film only covers a short time during the summer of 1999, there may have been some prior event where Antonin may have ‘come out’ although this type of revelation is not just a single action, gayness may be declared to one set of people (family/friends) but disclosed to others (work/casual acquaintances). This seems unlikely to be the case during the film as there is no indication of him having ‘come out’ previously, and upon meeting Juliette he makes no allusion to his past, seeming every part the heterosexual male. Coming out as gay is not a once and for all event and thus not a revelation which is permanent, an individual can retreat from coming out by not declaring their status. During the scenes where he and Alex are on a night out, he suggests that they join in sexual acts with the men around them outside. Antonin then promptly shrugs off this proposition as a joke after Alex is repulsed by it. With the knowledge that his friend is not tolerant of gay relations, Antonin seems uneasy with his love for Alex, he attempts to kiss his body whilst they are lying together in bed, but he seems defeated by the idea that their relationship will never be anything more than platonic having tested Alex’s reactions. In private he repeats the words he wishes to tell Alex but just becomes more and more frustrated with himself. Ultimately, he is only able to tell Alex he loves him as he is dying in his arms.


Antonin’s subsequent entry into the profession of rent is another part of his queer identity. Queer theory argues that because sexuality is not a fixed point, there is no use in establishing a sexual identity in favour of liberating pre-established sexualities because rather than create a new sexual identity, the ideology behind being queer encourages exploration of sexual forces present in every individual rather than designating an individual to one type of sexuality. Antonin remains within this spectrum of sexual ambiguity as he searches for an undefined sexual satisfaction, the reasons behind this being varied. As it happens so soon after Alex's death and we literally watch him spin out of control, this could be his way of coping with his sudden loss, but he does not attend Alex's funeral, which seems odd for a grieving friend. It is also around this time that his mother Fabienne reveals that they will soon have to move away from the city, their conversation also bringing up the fact that Antonin's relationship with his father is a difficult one.


The decision to become a rent boy soon seems like a mistake after Antonin’s frustrations surface again after repeated rejections from clients after asking them if he can stay the night. He takes out his anger upon one of his clients during a roleplay session, during which Antonin gets progressively more and more heated until he attacks him viciously; spitting, punching, and kicking the frightened man whilst calling him a 'slut', the reason behind this could be possibly because this is how he feels about himself and shortly afterwards he tells Baptiste he can no longer be a rent boy as he is 'fed up'. Once he acknowledges these feelings, he then meets Juliette by chance in a nightclub and becomes comfortable within himself, even appearing to gain weight and looking healthier and when he finds out that Juliette once worked in a similar way to him, he is comfortable enough within their relationship to tell her that he also had sex for money, although with people of the same sex and does not hide the fact that he was once in love with a man. Being queer is an inclusive lifestyle, the term being a unity between all sexualities rather than just solely about gayness or straightness. Straight people can experience 'queer moments' which are not about a sexual confusion or which make the individual feel ashamed or must be explained away.


Hormoz demonstrates throughout the film that being queer is something that expresses interchangeability and can fit within straight discourse rather than being marginalised. The opening quote from the autobiography of the influential artist and performer, Lydia Lunch describes taking chances to forget their life, delving into other people’s nights and lives in order to "forge a new identity for a few hours". This mirrors Antonin’s situation, taking risks with strange partners, trying to become comfortable within himself and find a new love so that he can forget the pain of his friend's passing. By exploring his sexuality, Antonin is taken on a journey of discovery where he finds that there are many possibilities to love again and in turn be loved by the people he meets in unexpected opportunities.


Watch


Country: France
Budget: £400,000
Length: 73mins


Pub/2008


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