Customer Reviews

We Were One Man

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We Were One Man
(France, 1980) Directed by: Philipe Vallois. Color. Running Time: 90 Minutes. Contains Nudity & Mature Sexual Themes. Unrated. In French with English subtitles.
During the final days of World War II, a simple French peasant rescues a wounded German soldier and nurses him back to health. And as their playful camaraderie grows, two young men who should be enemies begin to bond in ways neither thought possible. Winner of the Special Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival!

Philippe Valois is one of France's earliest and best gay directors. I first saw this film at a NY Gay Film Festival, bought the VHS and when I switched to DVD format, gave away the tape, thinking I could replace it in the new format. No such luck. It never made it into DVD, as so many other great European and Latin American gay movies (A un dios desconocido, Ernesto, The Flavor of Corn, Otra historia de amor).

The story is simple and utterly beautiful. A mentally challenged young Frenchman of extraordinary physical strength, played by Serge AVedikian, is afraid of the Germans because he has heard they exterminate the handicapped. Therefore, he lives by himself in the woods. One day, he captures a beautiful German flyer--Piotr Stanislas-- tends his wounds and turns him into his pet. However, little by little they fall in love. With the approach of the end of the war, the German must flee. When he tries to, the Frenchman shoots him and then, in an unexplicable move, opens a grave, deposits the body and jumps in as well, closing the hole with a straw mat. It took me several viewings to understand this last scene, which has to do with what the Frenchmen did to little animals his dog caught and killed. He "planted" them as if they were seeds, so they would "sprout" again.

I usually shy away from gay movies with unhappy endings, but this film has stayed with me for over 20 years, and I still consider it a masterpiece of the genre. Time to replace my missing tape!

Why did the last reviewer tell the films's ending.What an complete brain dead idiot.Now there is no need for me to buy this dvd.

Finally! I saw this film at a New York Gay Film Festival in the 80's, and have held on to my VHS copy in the hopes of its being relased on DVD one day. The movie is acted with more than passionate intensity by the two principals (neither originally French: a blond Russian and a dark Armenian). And even though we nowadays condemn the ending as politically incorrect, it is within context, the French young man being mentally unbalanced and quite naive at the same time. In fact, it does point to the theme of resurrection according to natural laws: sprouting. The fact that it will not happen does not detract from its validity.

Just okay, I have no intention of watching it a second time.

It presents some interesting issues such as gay love, mental illness, country-life, woman as sex objects to be used as one likes, not much respect for life.

I will never spoil the movie with specifics, but why the film makers decided to use the character of a recluse nutjob, escapes me. Some of the film was thought-provoking, like maybe not all humans at war on opposite sides are really enemies, depends on their actions.

What is this switch that is flicked when countries are at war with each other - it's okay to kill each other when "at war". It made me think about religious and moral values regarding killing in peace time versus war time. These are not easy issues to reconcile if you truly have a serious debate because good arguments can be brought forward for both sides of the issue. I guess it made me think that there are wars/conflicts which I can more easily defend philosophically than others, but it's a shame that we have to kill each other to settle these disputes. I mean, too bad that so many have to die all because of a madman or a few poliicians.

Anyway, it has its' merits so I rate 3 stars.

The human elements of this movie are quite touching, but it contains the most appalling incidents of animal abuse I have ever seen. At least one very sweet dog and one rabbit are killed on camera for the enjoyment of the director and his audience. Other viewers clearly don't care, but I do.

However inspiring this movie might have been otherwise, I strongly advise anyone who really cares about animals not to watch it. If you're the sort who can excuse animal abuse in the name of art or changing times (as others have done here), or if, like the director, you actually enjoy it, then by all means indulge yourself. But if, like me, you believe that animal abuse for entertainment was no less abominable and inexcusable 30 years ago (or 1000 years ago) than it is now, you should avoid this movie.