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CANNES 2007 Directors Fortnight / France

Arbid and male desire

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"Not a provoking, but an honest film" was how director Danielle Arbid described Un Homme Perdu [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
last night at the film’s Directors' Fortnight screening. After the Lebanese civil war seen from the eyes of a teenager girl in Dans les Champs de Bataille [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(2004), the Lebanese-French director returns to the Croisette with the story of a strange intimacy between a photographer and an amnesiac man, set between Jordan and Lebanon.

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The road movie is freely inspired by the wanderings of French photographer Antoine d'Agata (who also collaborated on the script), with Melvil Poupaud acting as his potential alter ego, Thomas. In a trip, Thomas gets to know a mysterious man (Alexandre Siddig), who soon becomes his road companion and model. However, Thomas' camera can only capture appearances, thus the man's past remains unknown and his introverted behaviour intrigues Thomas, who decides to investigate his identity.

Un Homme Perdu is a character-driven film, which in this particular case means that the psychological link between the two men is actually more important than the investigation subplot that takes up the last half hour of the film. Long before that, Arbit sets her film in brothels, hotels and nightclubs, daring to film what many female directors usually do not: male desire.

Several sequences include sexual intercourse that turn into photo sessions for Thomas’ upcoming book. Female bodies are clearly defined as the object of desire. However, and because Arbit is a woman, those scenes, although nearly explicit, never seem to be unnecessary and coarse. They are fundamental to the bond created between the two main characters.

"They had two worlds that are supposedly separated: one sexual, the other combating sin, one sober, the other seeking intoxication at all costs", said Arbid. "I wanted to bring them face to face and mix them together".

Un Homme Perdu was produced by MK2 Productions – which is also handling theatrical distribution and international sales – with the support of Canal + and the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC).

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