Every week I feature a full gay movie or two, usually something hard-to-find or unknown. It might be a short or a documentary or it might be arty porn! Whatever I want to share that week.
Donate if you wish or leave a comment anywhere and I’ll share my full collection with you for free. About 2 TB at the moment and growing every day.
On the second viewing, I enjoyed this quintessentially independent coming-of-age drama even more and was moved almost to tears at least twice — once when the older Félix expresses sudden and certain care for his younger friend, Tom, preventing him from doing something foolish, an uncharacteristic act of rashness from this perpetually fearful-looking character. That care will turn out to be providential rather than accidental.
Also, the film expresses its independence in the way the sexual and near-sexual encounters play out on screen. Instead of the predictable veer away from narrative momentum and into a generic sex scene that so many films of this type succumb to, each time these particular boys touch each other, there is a different tenor, a different outcome.
When I first saw it, I was struck by its sincerity, which was reflected in the film’s realism (except for two lovely dreamlike sequences depicting Tom’s obsession with the face and lithe body of Félix), but also by its generosity. The film was made available for free on YouTube, but also none of the characters were condescended to, pitied, or purely objectified, which is far from a given in gay cinema, where the latter two are far too common. The script also has the good sense to flesh out Tom’s younger sister, Bertille, giving her agency and individuality through her idiosyncratic tics and expressions. (Similar to Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip, the parents’ faces are never revealed, although we hear them.)
A Brother is a careful, detailed gay awakening story that, for me at least, amply repaid a repeat viewing. Watch it here or on YouTube. Or you can download it in high quality from my collection.
As always, the first person to comment on this post will gain access to my gay movies collection.
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