A raw, powerful film by Camille Vidal-Naquet about a male street sex worker in Paris is now playing at the Film Forum from April 10- 23.
Felix Maritaud (who was in BPM (Beats Per Minute) gives a fearless performance as Leo, who spends his day on a lonely stretch of road with other male prostitutes. He Lives rough- sleeping in parks and streets, and is obviously in bad health, with occasional bouts of hacking cough. There is a scene with a sympathetic female doctor that is achingly poignant.
We see a number of for-cash hook-ups with strangers. One with two gay guys is particularly humiliating and scary. But there is this heartbreaking romantic streak in him. He has unrealistic feelings for a muscular ruffian hustling on the same curb (Eric Bernard) who doesn’t identify as gay, and keeps pushing him away urging Leo to find an old man with money, “it’s the best that can happen to us.”
The film may seem like random sordid scenes from his ramshackle life, and you have to fill in a lot about Leo. But it adds up, and there is something incredibly moving about the cumulative effect.