Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 06/07/2000(France),
Release Date: 01/08/2002
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: French
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 98 Minutes
Flags: Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: Picture This
The third collaboration between screenwriter
Stephane Bouquet and writer/director
Sebastien Lifshitz,
Presque Rien is the story of a young French man coming to terms with his mother's depression, and his own homosexuality, during a summer holiday in France. Delicately handsome
Mathieu (
Jeremie Elkaim) has come to a seaside resort town with his sisters
Annick (
Marie Matheron) and
Sarah (
Laetitia Legrix) and his mother (
Dominique Reymond), who has suffered from a crippling depression ever since her newborn baby died of cancer. One day while sunning himself on the beach with
Sarah,
Mathieu notices the attentions of
Cedric (
Stephane Rideau), a sturdy, handsome, slightly older youth. The two quickly develop an illicit romance, spending their days combing the beach and their evenings slipping off for passionate sex.
Cedric, it turns out, has dropped out of school and, after a brief stint as a rent boy and a failed relationship with a boy named
Pierre (
Nils Ohlund), moved over one town and settled into a comfortable routine of blue-collar work. The sturdy, good-natured
Cedric charms
Mathieu's family, but the true nature of the youths' relationship soon becomes apparent, leading to conflict, especially with oldest sibling
Annick.
Mathieu's biggest problem, however, is his sense of powerlessness over his mother's illness and the death in the family. The scenes of his romance with
Cedric are interspersed with scenes from two later time periods. In one setting, we witness
Mathieu's recovery from a suicide attempt and subsequent refusal to accept
Cedric's visits; in another, we see
Mathieu return, alone, to the site of his sexual coming of age.
Presque Rien received its American release under the title
Come Undone; after premiering at
the 2001 L.A. Outfest, a gay and lesbian film series, it received a limited art-house release.
Rejane Kerdaffrec, who previously appeared in the
Lifschitz/
Bouquet film
Les Corps Ouverts, appears in a small role as
Mathieu's psychiatrist.
~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
