The movie is visually stunning and all the actors did a good job, but it tries too hard to be artistic and it mostly fails.The two main male characters have deep talks about life, love, family and their meaning, discussion which is constantly shown in flashbacks, repeating the last minute of the previous one, but they lack substance. It tries to be witty, and that it's pretty obvious, but it fails.The relationship of them is never truly explained, also leaving the viewer with a confusing open ending - again, it tried not to be "in your face", to make you think, to discover things by yourself but it couldn't raise to the stakes raised by itself.The director, Zabou Breitman wasn't at her first try in the movie industry; now, I don't know how her other films hold up, they don't have a page on Wikipedia, nor on RottenTomatoes and her directed films on IMDb don't have a rating yet (maybe all that means something too), even if released years ago, but if the others are the same, they aren't worthy.On the bright side, it's cinematography is really great, it has some beautiful shot moments, she knows her way around the camera - too bad they don't integrate very well into the film.4/10

Set in the stunningly beautiful Provencal region of France, "The Man of My life" looks at how both passion and responsibility play an equally crucial role in defining who we are and how we love.Frederic (Bernard Campan) and Frederique (Lea Drucker) are a happily married couple who enjoy entertaining large groups of people at the country home where they vacation. One day, Frederic invites their next door neighbor, a single gay man by the name of Hugo (Charles Berling), over for a get-together with family and friends. Soon, Frederic and Hugo have struck up a friendship largely centered on their mutual addiction to running and their propensity to talk the night away over such weighty matters as love, passion, responsibility, freedom, commitment and marriage. Hugo tries to convince Frederic that his role as dutiful husband and father has robbed him of his individuality and earlier lust for life, while Hugo, spurned by his father at a young age, comes to his own understanding of the importance of family by the end. There's an obvious sexual attraction between the two men, but the movie goes far beyond the typical coming-out drama to explore romantic passion in all its myriad complexities and forms.Frederic is torn between the desire to continue loving the wife who so obviously loves him and who has provided a stable home for him and their children - and this new found feeling for Hugo that he can, in no way, shape or form, even begin to understand. The movie never feels the need to judge any of the characters; it presents them simply as well-meaning but flawed human beings who struggle on a daily basis, as all of us do, with an array of emotions, needs and desires that continually come into conflict with one another.The screenplay by Zabou Breitman and Agnes de Sacy employs long, winding conversations to reveal the truths about the characters and the relationships that help to define them. Moreover, the sensuous, bucolic setting, far from being a mere backdrop to the foreground action, actually serves to pull us into the lives of these people as they while away a languid summer swimming, hiking and exploring the inner workings of their own roiled psyches.In his direction, Breitman has come up with interesting, slightly abstract ways of filming the commonplace details of everyday life, utilizing extreme close-ups, distorted angles, catawampus framing and mosaic-style storytelling to impart a lyrical tone to the film.Superb performances by the three leading players also add greatly to the emotional richness of the piece.With a great deal of insight and tenderness, "The Man of My Life" presents us with a subtly provocative, beautifully realized and psychologically complex view of the human heart.

Zabou Breitman is a director/writer to watch notwithstanding her acting portfolio. If she was in Hollywood, she would be labeled a "triple threat", hailed as a maverick and given suitable coverage for her latest work.Though I've never been, watching this feels like you're going to have a pleasant, peaceful, summer vacation with your family and friends in southern France in the splendor of nature, comfy dwelling, great food and wine. What could possibly be missing or wrong, right? The French complex and complicated as they are, seemed not content with the ideal life and would simply want to crack things up because they're so bored with it. I take that back. In fact, the setting could happen anywhere and still be applicable and effective. Which makes this even more universally appealing to adults experiencing perhaps; midlife crisis?The story is really simple and almost no plot at all and it could have been really boring going back to the same scenes from a different perspective. But at two hours, I hardly noticed it at all. In fact, I wish it was longer. Breitman is a keen observer. She injects subtle slice of life sparsely spaced at right moments. It's like watching a painter at work with every restrained stroke of her brush as she finishes her masterpiece.The charming Charles Berling is perfect for the role of Hugo, a solitary new neighbor. He is also unabashedly, though masculine acting, gay. He announces this to the surprise of everyone when invited for dinner by good natured family man Frederic played by the equally adorable Bernard Campan. Both actors give exquisite performances as expected if you're familiar with them. If Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist met at this stage in their life, this would be an interesting development. Enough said, all the casts are good including the black cat in the background in a scene.If ever there was a runner up or successor to Brokeback Mountain, this would certainly be it in terms of narrative and milieu. Though the musical score is very good, it doesn't have the dramatic haunting reminiscence of Gustavo Santaolalla's and as such carries a slight advantage over this one. One noteworthy comparison is that they are both written by women. Is it perhaps those female writers/directors are more adept at handling gay themed love stories than actual gay writers/directors because women are more in touch with their emotions and knows what tenderness is? Or maybe they are writing it from their perspective originally intended for the lesbian audiences? Whatever the intention, they're truly good at it compared to many forgettable gay themed films with more emphasis on lust, agendas and dramatics.I wished this film would have had the same coverage as it truly deserves. I imagine it a big hit in Japan if it is or was released. One important thing this viewer learned is that it didn't go unnoticed and would even like to keep it a secret and maybe it should stay that way as if cherishing a gem of art shielding it from the general population. The Man of My Life effortlessly became one of his most favorite films of all time.Oh another skill that Zabou Brietman may or may not know have; poet.

Summer somewhere in France. A couple and their young son invite family and friends to enjoy a warm rural holiday at their old but comfortable summer house. A neighbor, a middle-aged single man, is invited to join the first night's outdoor party. It is quickly revealed that the man is gay. He and the husband start a tentative friendship. How far will it go? Beyond the apparently simple plot line, what struck me about this film were the visual aspects. A playful camera delights us with unconventional angles, framing, superpositions and transitions. Combining beautiful cinematography and great editing, the end result is a superb film. The tango music is icing on the cake.