Film

The Witnesses (2007)

Director: André Téchiné

Movie review

From Time Out Chicago

Though many movies don’t like to tell you this, real life is messy. People do shitty things with good motives and noble things to feed their egos. Friends go through rough patches that can’t be fixed with a quick hug, and lovers sometimes treat each other like crap precisely because they are in love.

Téchiné (The Wild Reeds, Alice and Martin) is drawn toward that kind of messiness in this drama about a circle of friends in the early days of the AIDS crisis. Young, gay Manu (Libéreau) forms a tricky friendship with older gay doctor Adrien (Blanc), who has a history of falling for young guys who use him. When Manu develops AIDS, Adrien becomes his caregiver, a role that gives him control over the object of his semi-requited love. Adrien’s friend Sarah (Béart) is a wonderful children’s author but a terrible mother. Her husband, Mehdi (Bouajila), likes sex with guys but works as a vice cop cracking down on gay cruising.

For those who remember the mid-1980s, Téchiné’s mix of nostalgia and righteous anger will feel exactly right. For those who don’t, this is a moving look at the way the world changed in just a few years.