Paris 05:59 / Théo & Hugo (2016)

Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The title characters in "Théo et Hugo dans le même bateau" meet in a dark room and connect instantly. Then they stroll the streets of early morning Paris together. From its raunchy, explicit beginning, this charming film evolves into a sweet and somber romance, echoing of Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise"-trilogy. Consequently, Théo's and Hugo's story comes across an unforgettable and ultimately very charming affair.

Being of a certain age this may well be the last true ground-breaking masterpiece that I may see in my lifetime. It is a bookend as it were to another masterpiece, Louis Malle's 'Les Amants'. I saw this when it first came out in 1958. And there are similarities. Both films for their respective times have pushed the boundaries of eroticism in cinema and both have lovers who have met the same day and ended that day with the dawn of their future together. There has been comparison with Agnes Varda's 'Cléo de 5 à 7' but this is only partially relevant, because sexuality does not seal the whole basis of that film. Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Marc Bory fall in love in an 'instant' and that same 'instant' happens to the men in 'Theo et Hugo dans le meme bateau'. Brahms does not overlay this passion, but pounding modern pop music does. It is the music of our time. In both films there are challenges ahead, and both passions may be destroyed by them. What makes this film great along with the Malle is the element of risk that is taken in choosing to follow the path of desire, and truths are said in 'Theo et Hugo' which censorship would not have permitted the lovers in 'Les Amants'. I was amazed at the words and actions in the last extraordinary scene that reveal how love can be born out of the realisation that the sexual organ of the beloved can be loved for itself and is an important component of that love. That in this film it is the male penis that is kissed and adored by the lover will be a sight of revulsion for some, a wonder and a revelation for others. This film like the Malle is deeply Romantic in the highest sense of the word. Instead of the beauty of the night world of the surrounding country side, compared to 'Caspar David Friedrich' and his paintings, in the beautifully filmed 'Les Amants' we have in 'Theo et Hugo' the magically lit streets of Paris, deserted in the early hours of the morning. This is not the Paris of Hollywood, but the ordinary streets around such areas as Stalingrad and Anvers. Places of urban peace where the two characters can explore the dilemma they are in, fight off love and then accept it quite simply because it has happened. I do not want to elaborate on the HIV aspect, because to me it seemed the rock of fate that has to be somehow overcome, just as the adultery and the leaving of a child has to be overcome in 'Les Amants'.As I have said this is a great film and it saddens me that perhaps so many will not see it, as I believe its audacity, its beauty, its infinite gentleness between two men, will put it there in the Pantheon of films to stand the test of time. Maybe in future years it will be seen as the mountain peak in French cinema that it is.Unlike some reviewers I think the actors are equal to each other, and in the final scene with its extraordinary intimacy there is a look of bewildered but enchanted delight of Geoffrey Couët's face that surpassed acting. He embodied the giving of love, and that is rare in any film. What he accepted with a look of beauty few actors in the world would accept to do, and I hope he has a great future ahead of him. Theo in all his moods captured my heart, and François Nambot captured my mind that he could dare so much, and push for so much to happen between them. This film is a poem of love.

"Paris 05:59" tells a very realistic story of love between two men, Theo and Hugo. They meet in a sex club in Paris. This is the opening scene of the movie, and it is not for any prudes. And it isn't just a "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" scene. It lasts for 20 minutes and nothing is left to the imagination.The story really begins when the two lovers depart the club and on their way to someone's apartment, they realize one of them has had unprotected sex with a partner who is HIV-positive. The mere fact one of them insists they immediately go to be tested demonstrated (to me, at least) this was probably more than just a one-time tryst in a sex club. The movie delves deeper into how these two men actually feel about, well, everything. I have not seen a movie (probably since "Brokeback Mountain") that demonstrates so deeply the passion and love that can actually exist between two men. This movie is either not rated or is NC-17. There is EXPLICIT sexual activity in the first 20 minutes, and there is graphic nudity. There is also a love between two men that few films have dared to attempt to show. I loved it.

The first 20 minutes is pure pornography. It is not done distastefully but it is still pure pornography. While that scene is essential to the entire story, it could have been shortened to a lesser 5 or 10 minutes of lesser explicit sex without jeopardizing the story line. But if you are turned on by gay orgies then you have nothing to complain.But it is after that marathon sex scene that the film took on a completely substantial value. The performance by the two young actors is good but what makes this a masterpiece is the overall story line and flow. It is a real-time film, meaning the time frame of the story being depicted is the real time frame of the length of the film. It really draws you in - if you allow it to. In typical French fashion, it's the undercurrent tension that grips you rather than anything in-your-face. On a deeper level it reminds me a little of Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky), not in the nature of the plot but in the subtle yet strong alternating waves of emotions: between morbid fear and banal carefreeness; between romance and anger; between naive innocence and bitter reality; between hope and despair, all happening with the dark, ordinary yet enigmatically charming Paris, as the stage (you won't see any glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, nor the Sacre Coeur nor the dirty ghettos - you see the real Paris ordinaire). It is a plot that lends itself perfectly to French cinematography and style; a story that screams to be given the very French treatment of film making.