Social and religious contradictions, gay/lesbian secrecy, and all this in an Islamic/Arab country - plenty of intriguing stuff to issue from and complete with. True, it is difficult to fit it all in a film less than 1.5 hours, and that is probably the reason why the film seemed a lightweight walk over the issues, with the director's apparent desire of being brave and progressive, but not too provoking in showing love and affection (Mehdi Ben Attia comes from Tunisia where the film is shot). The second half or so is less interesting and even more perfunctory, and the ending is rather odd, characteristic to Bollywood films rather than French creations.The aged Claudia Cardinale has somehow lost her charm, and all other performers did not impress me much; I did not fix them in my memory, and their accomplishments did not make me look for films with their presence...Thus, just an average film to me, 1-2 additional points for boldness and pleasant Tunesian scenes - not often shown in films widely available in the Western world. As for gay films, you might want to see respective German and Scandinavian films with meaty approach.

Our hero returns home to his mother's house and must face issues that he was able to avoid by spending time away. Antonin Stahly-Vishwanadan is Malik, a gay man, who keeps running into Mom's servant Bilal, played by Salim Kechiouche. My complaint here is the music. It frequently doesn't reflect the correct mood of what's taking place in the scene. They use eerie violin music in much of the film, even when people are happy, or just driving down the country road. It might be helpful to match the music to the mood of the action or scene. Also, the bit about the string got annoying after a while, even if it IS the title and theme of the film. Don't want to give away spoilers here… we'll just say it all hits the fan, and there are secrets and family members to be faced, in an Islamic country yet. Written, directed, and even a minor role by Mehdi Ben Attia. Attia had only directed a short film prior to this, in 2000. Enjoyable film. Good story, excellent acting. Mostly good subtitles in the TLA version….even if they did skip some bits of the conversation here & there. It's a shame that they did not translate more of what is said in the church... would have been interesting to hear what was said.

For this film, directed and written by Mehdi Ben Attia does that very thing. It doesn't preach a message, it doesn't force people to sacrifice their lives or dignities. It just tells a story of two men who fall in love and live happily ever after. Why not? Why can't there be such films? My hat is off to those responsible for making this happen. Writers, director and a wonderful cast.And how wonderful to see Claudia Cardinale again. Still with those beautiful eyes and looking smashing as the mother of one of the boys who fall in love. She also gets to go through all the moments that most mothers go through in finding out their son is gay. Cardinale is terrific. As her gay son, Atonin Stahly, too, is wonderful. He didn't miss a beat in this. From the frustrated son coming home to dealing with a possessive mother to falling in love. As his love interest, Salim Kechiouche seems perfectly fitted for the role. A beautiful, sensitive young man bringing much passion into his role. At first you feel something is going to happen. Something will go wrong. This is too beautiful to last. As in most gay love stories, it usually does. But in this is doesn't. The ending is so beautiful and touching, you want to stand up and cheer. Thanks for a lovely romantic love story between two men.

When handsome young Malik returns home to Tunisia from France to take up work as an architect, he moves back in with his widowed mom, and why not? She's Claudia Cardinale! And her house is fabulous. (The shaded pavilion with a view of the sea is my favorite part of the estate, but the garden with the huge palm trees and orange hammock is pretty nice, too...and so is Malik's bathroom with the amazing tile...this is world-class real estate.)Unknown to mom, Malik is gay; mostly he seems attracted to the rough trade guys who hang out in a certain part of town just waiting to service rich boys like Malik, but there's this achingly cute young handyman (even cuter than Malik) living in Mom's servant quarters who keeps catching his eye, Bilal. It turns out there is more to Bilal than meets the eye, but you won't find that out until later.Meanwhile, to satisfy mom and give the kid a father, Malik is planning to marry his work partner, a coupled lesbian who's having a baby by artificial insemination. The lesbian's father is unbelievably cool with all this. I want to be as cool as that old guy some day.Where is all this heading? To another tragic gay movie where somebody dies? I don't think I require a spoiler alert to tell you that "The String" is not that sort of movie. This is a loving, wise, subtle, witty, sophisticated, erotic, almost Utopian vision of how life should be, a tonic to all those well-made but often dreary movies about gay life outside the urban gay Meccas of the West.The acting is terrific (Malik's face tells many stories), the sense of humor is spot-on, Cardinale is simultaneously the scariest and best mother a gay boy could ever hope for, and the whole movie is beautifully directed, especially the scene where Bilal comes to Malik and humbly asks to borrow his shoes, because his own outfit isn't classy enough to get him into a trendy club. So much happens in this scene, it's like a little movie in itself. It sets in motion everything that comes afterward.(PS: I just found out that the movie won the Best Feature audience award at the San Francisco Frameline film fest, where I saw it. Well deserved.)