Man at Bath

This tale weave like a night dream that fell into a nightmare. The digital film work from I phone to hand held camera tell the story of a young French man that have dreams of becoming something more than a easy lay....

This film was long winded unintelligible and a total waste of time and money. The story line jumped all over the place and the addition of its leading man did not help even though the cover promotes him so much.

Many will not appreciate the subtlety of "Men at Bath" (Homme au bain) which seeks to explore the perverse dynamic between its two central characters. Some will argue that this film is more about exploring male sexuality, than it is about telling a story. If it is indeed the former, then it needs to be said upfront that this is relatively small (if not narrow) approach to that sexuality, and whilst truthful in some aspects it is not indicative of all men. Emmanuel (played by François Sagat) is a true hedonist, whose pursuit of personal satisfaction and pleasure makes for a difficult relationship. His lover Omar, has reached that stage within the relationship where his patience has been replaced with ambivalence.Omar leaves for New York where he pursues his own desires and frivolity, whilst Emmanuel merely allows the days to merge into each other. Having said this, there is no real story within "Man at Baths", and as such many will consider such a fatal flaw within the film. Ironically, the story is just that. In many people's lives, there is no real direction or vision but rather a pervasive lethargy due to there own impotence. Rather than break free from a relationship that destroys, they seek to hold onto that relationship knowing it to be inherently destructive, because they would rather have something as opposed to nothing.There is a great deal of nudity within the film, which is neither gratuiotus nor titilating. Rather its serves an importance purpose, in that it brings to the audience the raw sexuality of both Emmanuel and Omar. In the end you ask whether they are entirely governed by that sexuality, or whether are are merely ambivalent to their individual feelings for each other and their relationship as a whole. It seems as if they only come alive when they allow their sexual being to emerge, as long as it is not with each other, and as such the audience is never sure of their true desires.François Sagat is better known for his adult films, and I suspect will be measured against such in "Man at Bath". Despite which, he is one of the few 'porn stars' that seems determined to make the transition from merge porn, and whilst he not bad as Emmanuel, he needs a great deal more introspection if he is to make a better and more convincing actor.The style and direction of the film seems mundane, which is perhaps a metaphor for where Omar and Emmanuel find themselves. The world is seen more through the eyes of Omar than Emmanuel, who seems to be the observed as opposed to the observer. This begs the question, as Omar is clearly the more determined of the two, yet Emmanuel seems to be directing the relationship in circles. It is therefore, not surprising that Omar takes the lead in his encounters with others, but merely submits to Emmanuel out of obligation. There is no real passion, and as such one cannot but realise that the relationship is devoid of any purpose.This is much like the film.

Worth watching

Heureusement il y avait F.S.à regarder autrement ce film-ci n'etait que prétentieux et sans aucun interêt, le scénario, la mis en scéne et le travail de caméra confus et apparemment sans point de vue artistique, les acteurs médiocre.

This film is better than others are saying here, I think! It is, at the very least, very sexy, and works as a kind of riff on gay male desire a bit like the Paul Morrissey films with Joe Dallesandro. The juxtaposition with the New York sequences, in which Chiara Mastroianni is seen promoting Honore's previous film, is very effective, as she and Francois Sagat - a famous porn star - both have real beauty but form a wonderful contrast, both physically and in terms of their acting. The lover is also very good, and embarks on his own sexual adventure stateside, which is highly erotic too. There are quite a lot of humorous moments, sometimes blended with the erotic. Some of it is really quite dirty, but it never loses a sense of style. As always with Honoré, there is an elegance in the images and the way it is filmed. It feels like quite a personal statement which he could only really make with a lead actor who was prepared to do those scenes, to be physically what the film required. It is as if Honoré has taken cuttings from different places and put them together to make a one-off film, and indeed not to do so would have been a great pity! The blurring of 'proper' cinema and porn is quite daring and surely makes an important point, and the free-floating feel of the end result has a lot of charm, plus there's some amazing wallpaper in Sagat's flat! Above all, Chiara Mastroianni's grace really comes across uniquely, set against the beefier appeal of Sagat himself. The film itself cannot really be pushed above 4 stars, however I would add a star for the sheer sexiness, and for being so frank about it.

I found the main character unsympathetic and there was little real structure or storytelling in the various things that happened. Disappointing.

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