Eastern Boys

Eastern Boys

Director: Robin Campillo Writer: Robin Campillo Starring: Olivier Rabourdin, Kirill Emelyanov, Danil Vorobyev, Edéa Darque Runtime: 128 minutes

Eastern Boys, Robin Campillo’s sophomore effort, is a chameleon of a film, that flits from genre to genre; over its two hour running time, it skips from home invasion drama, to tender love story, before climaxing in a finale worthy of a Hollywood thriller. Campillo, who both wrote and directed the film, has created a moving portrait of contemporary relationships, that raises questions about modern sexuality and attitudes towards immigration. Beginning with long, languid shots of Paris’ Gare du Nord, the camera follows a group of young Eastern European boys as the mingle around the station. Splitting up, coming together again, they weave through the crowds, making the audience focus on their location. We begin to notice a well dressed businessman, Daniel (Olivier Rabourdin) whose attention is drawn to a handsome youth - Marek, played by Kirill Emelyanov. Eventually, Daniel plucks up the courage to say ‘Bonjour’, and what follows is a stilted conversation in English, in which Daniel attempts to solicit Marek. Unable to come that day, Daniel arranges to meet Marek tomorrow, but makes the mistake of revealing his home address, setting in motion a chain of events beyond his control. The film is split into four clear sections, and as the gang of youths leave the Gare du Nord, the second section begins. Expecting Marek to arrive, Daniel is surprised when he opens the door to find the gang from the station; young men from all over Eastern Europe - Ukraine, Romania, Azerbaijan - they are united under the forceful leadership of Boss (Daniil Vorobyev), a Russian sociopath. Invading Daniel’s home in the banlieue, they entrap him inside, and begin to strip the furniture, carting it away in a waiting van. While things don’t break out into outright violence, there is a palpable atmosphere of tension throughout this section. Once they are satisfied with their haul, they leave Daniel alone in his empty apartment. While the director could have been satisfied with a simple home invasion plot, it is at this point that Campillo takes a left turn into a relationship drama; the next day Marek arrives to fulfill his end of the deal. Daniel is surprised to see him again, but nevertheless goes through with things, and has sex with Marek. As Marek keeps coming back to the apartment, a sort of romance develops between the two characters, although the nature of this relationship is kept ambiguous; beginning as overtly sexual, Daniel eventually begins to develop paternal feelings towards Marek, trying to help him assimilate into French society - Marek is ‘sans papiers’, an undocumented immigrant, trying to escape his past. Does Daniel represent economic freedom for Marek? Or is the apartment a place where Marek can find safety, far away from the bombs that killed his family during the Chechen War? Campillo keeps his cards close to his chest, presenting the relationship in a neutral, non-judgemental way, and allowing the audience to make up their own minds. While depictions of Paris in cinema tends to veer towards the nauseatingly romantic - look to Woody Allen’s cheesefest Midnight in Paris - this film instead follows the path forged by the 1995 masterpiece La Haine, which documented the grimy underbelly of the Parisian suburbs. With effortlessly naturalistic performances from the two leads, Eastern Boys isn’t afraid to explore thorny issues of contemporary French life. Immigration issues are an obvious theme, and the film highlights both the issues migrants face when coming to the country, and how they are seen as no-one’s responsibility. The gang are holed up in a Premier Inn like hotel; it is clear that the hotel manager doesn’t want them there, but the rooms are run by social services, and there is nothing she can do. It seems like a bleak future for these migrants; unable to interact with the authorities, they are instead trapped in this nowhere zone on the outskirts of Paris; it is no surprise that they resort to crime - what else is there to do? An unexpected find at the London Film Festival, Eastern Boys is a film that manages to be both visually sublime, and incredibly engaging. There is great clarity of vision from the director, who teases out superb performances from the cast, but the true star of the film is the script, written by Campillo, which manages the numerous twists and turns with nuance and skill, resulting in a thought-provoking meditation on love, loss, solitude, and trust.