Episode 518: Donne-moi La Main

I've just finished watching Donne-moi La Main, which was the film I picked for our latest task in LL209. It's a really frustrating film to get through though. Pascal-Alex Vincent began as a director of short films, and it still shows in his first full-length feature. What would otherwise be enigmatic in 15 minutes borders on insufferable when it's made five times as long. Too many questions are left unanswered by the end of a film that seems more interested in showcasing the attractiveness of its twin main actors, Alexandre and Victor Carril. (Hollywood does this all the time, but this film is clearly not in that league of spinning something out of nothing.) The really annoying thing is that the twins clearly have a love-hate relationship with each other, but Vincent's idea of exploring that seems to consist of pointed glaring and fisticuffs. It all seems like a missed opportunity to do more than rehash the sibling rivalry Vincent already (sort of) explored in his short film Bébé Requin, also starring the Carril brothers. Decent cinematography, but hopeless plot construction, even by arthouse standards.