MOSSBIE
The best thing about the film was the casting and the location manager along with watching the processing of ham. When I read anyone say "I walked out on the film" it is just so kind of Paris Hilton on acid. The story line makes one think that all men are interested in male sex and male nudity and go one way or the other when they are actually seeing male genitalia and nice bodies which get that way from hard work achieved by this working family who have little else to do but lift, play; so their bodies end up being toned, their skin somehow perfect and they rely on one another for their missing mothers' love. The same thing happens as often in America and in most countries except the scenery is not always as good or the fathers as weak.In the town they live, there are not that many women, and like a prison, the men are alone together. I think men in a movie house fear looking at great sexy male bodies. These bodies and abundantly endowed guys just happen to be better than the three part story line although male beauty is never ugly no matter how few times we see it on film and the penis is not an offensive thing as most any prisoner or 13 year old doing something with his best friend will tell you.This is just more real and is likely to shame some.I liked it in spite of the youngest being so well hung.
jketelone
I am left on the fence with this movie. At first you begin to understand the lives of these brothers through the eyes of a friend. There are 3 stories happening in this movie however it fails to develop the characters further once the 3rd brother is introduced. The last scene with the entire family. In the background you see the father (in keeping with his character is in the back, weak with no control). You see Christophe with his girlfriend, showcasing affection (makes sense since he has straightened out his life). Marc in the foreground (still showcasing his masculinity and toughness).I was perplexed by the ending scene. You see Olivier and Hachlm "in love" but at the end Hachlm is dumped so that Olivier can have a rendezvous with the flight instructor. I didn't understand why Olivier's plot-line/story was very short and abruptly ended. I understand Haclim helped Olivier with expressing his sexual freedom however, this could have been done better. I really felt disconnected from Olivier because of the last scene. Did we really need to know he left his first love to be with the flight instructor and end the movie like that?!?!I can see where the filmmaker was trying to convey however failed to do so in further developing the uniqueness of each brother and their overall connection. So after seeing this movie, I was left with what?
titanic1999_2000
I'm so sick of films like this giving our continent a bad name! For all the repulsed Americans out there I can only say don't judge all Europeans based on this rubbish. It doesn't represent anyone whatsoever.An utterly worthless film. There are no redeeming features at all. I've always disliked French films (food, literature etc) but I thought I might give this one a try just in case it was good. It wasn't. I've tried to think of something positive to say but there really is nothing positive about this voyeuristic pretentious and sickening film.Avoid it like the plague.
RNQ
For the originality of its content and manner of telling, Gael Morel's "Le Clan" deserves wide art-house distribution. It does, however, need a better English title. Life may be difficult for people in the film, but they are not slaves and make choices that attempt to better their situations, if not always happily. Why not simply "A Clan," since nobody remembers Griffith's second title for "Birth of a Nation," or "Brothers"? Two boys practice a North African "slave dance," but for sport and release.The tightly edited movie can be thought of as short stories about three brothers and their father. With rapid shifts we keep learning new things about the characters. Sometimes one wonders what went on during a gap, but usually one can figure it out and the dialogue that would have worked it through would have been sentimental and out of character.One shot of the brothers huddled together watched by their father is difficult to justify realistically, but it works as a symbolic representation. If meanwhile one wants everything spelled out and sweetened, there is the Québec film "C.R.A.Z.Y." The brothers do maintain enormous familiarity. The youngest one, very drunk, is helped by a brother to vomit.If that's shocking, we have to take it as a fact of the milieu. The banlieux of France have recently been in the news. "Le Clan" goes much further with stories that lead one to care for the characters in the variety of their difficult situations of social derogation, dangerous labour, sexuality, and self-esteem.
AD
