REVIEWS Get
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The Invisibles Reviewed by Mark Adams
Sébastien Lifshitz’s leisurely, engaging documentary about older openly gay and lesbian people in France — or “invisi- bles” as he calls them, claiming that ageing homosexuals withdraw from their social lives as they get older — offers an intriguing glimpse into the attitudes of old France as they talk about their experiences over the past 60 years. The strength of The Invisibles (Les Invisibles) is the warm,
generous and often joyous recollections of men and woman who are pragmatic about the homophobia and aggression they faced but more interested in talking about the joy, hap- piness, love and sex they have experienced over their long lives. Running almost two hours, the film is likely to receive limited formal distribution, though it will probably receive plenty of invitations to LGBT festivals. Lifshitz the documentary-maker is a nicely low-key pres-
ence in the film, though clearly the various men and women he tracked down over an extensive pre-production period are at ease and happy to discuss their lives. He found a number of people born between the wars, and asked them to talk about their experiences. The various interviewees — who are only ever identified
by their first names — discuss subjects ranging from their early sexual experiences and how they first came out, to the gay-rights movement alongside the women’s rights protests. They also talk about their relationships and partners and (in the film’s most moving and charming moments) dwell on how happy they have been over the years. A plethora of old photographs and film footage sit alongside the interviews. While the fight for decriminalisation of homosexuality
and equal rights plays an important part in the interviews, Lifshitz is perhaps more interested in how many of the interviewees have lived together openly for more than 30 years, and how while secrecy and discretion were common- place, there was also a good deal of tolerance across different social backgrounds. The backdrops for the interviews also play an important
The 39th Ghent International Film Festival will once again include the widest possible selection of fi lms from all over the world, mainly focusing on fi ction fi lms (feature length) and, to a lesser extent, to Belgian shorts, documentary (mainly fi lm- or music-linked themes) and animated pictures.
Want to submit a fi lm for the festival’s 39th edition (9-20 October 2012) programme? Please fi ll out the online entry form (
www.fi lmfestival.be/ productinfo.cgi) and send a screener (multi-region DVD) along with a pressbook to Wim De Witte. Deadline for applications is August 1st, 2012.
part in the film, with Lifshitz using images of nature to sym- bolise a certain fulfilment. He also uses it to puncture the cliché that homosexuality was hidden away in France in the past, with strong use of images of an elderly French farmer who discusses his various lovers who would swim in a stream with him, and a lesbian couple who escaped to the countryside and ran a busy farm and were always supported and encouraged by other farmers in their community. There is a strong sense, though, it is a film that could have
been much tighter, with some of the stories vaguely repeti- tive as The Invisibles weaves its gentle and leisurely story through recent French history.
OUT OF COMPETITION
Fr. 2012. 115mins Director Sébastien Lifshitz Production companies ZadigFilms, Rhone-Alpes Cinéma, Sylicone International sales Doc &FilmInternational,
www.docandfilm.com Producer BrunoNahon Cinematography Antoine Parouty EditorsTina Baz,Pauline Gaillard With Yann andPierre, Bernard and Jacques, Catherine andElisabeth, Pierrot,Therese, Christian, Monique, Jacques
SUBMIT YOUR FILM NOW!
www.fi lmfestival.be
Ghent International Film Festival, Leeuwstraat 40b, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium tel +32(0)9 242 80 60 - fax +32(0)9 221 90 74 - info@fi
lmfestival.be www.fi lmfestival.be -
www.worldsoundtrackacademy.com
n 22 Screen International at Cannes May 21, 2012
Out of the Past by Jacques Tourneur (1947-RKO) - © ImageGlobe
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