With “Close”, Lukas Dhont films a very beautiful friendship up close

• The fusional relationship between two inseparable teenagers falls apart when they enter the same college.

• “Close” by Lukas Dhont brews powerful emotions around its heroes.

• This moving work received the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

At

, we would have given the Palme d'or to

by Lukas Dhont, one of the most beautiful films of the year.

This tragic story of two young boys who love each other deeply moved viewers to the point that some burst into tears in each other's arms after the screening.

The Belgian director, who won the Camera d'or in 2018 for

, and for this film the Grand Jury Prize, confirms his talent for sharing the pains of adolescence and flushing out sublime young actors.

Eden Dambrine and Gustav de Waele, beginners in front of the camera, brilliantly embody his heroes.

"I wanted to show that actions have consequences even when you are very young", explains Lucas Dhont to

At this age, it is not yet a question of sexuality

The 13-year-old teenagers arrive together at the same college and must face questions from their classmates about the nature of their relationship.

“It's the age when teenagers can be fusional without it being a question of sexuality.

Their relationship could evolve in this direction, or not, but it is not the subject of my film”, explains the director.

As in love, things are painful if one invests more than the other in a relationship and the abandonment leads to an irreparable tragedy.

Then it's about dealing with grief and guilt.

“When I was a teenager, I had trouble living intimacy in friendship.

I still feel guilty for having let down certain comrades of the time”, admits Lukas Dhont.

Is it because he drew on his memories that

rings so true?

His subtlety in capturing the relationships between the characters is as obvious as he films children or adults (Emilie Dequenne and Léa Drucker are both brilliant mothers).

Perhaps it is also quite simply because he shows worthy characters with whom it is easy to identify that his cinema is so moving.

"I tried to stay sober by never pushing to excess in the expression of feelings as powerful as they are", specifies the filmmaker.

It is difficult to imitate him and not to react passionately when seeing

which provokes bursts of emotions so intense that it is advisable to provide handkerchiefs before entering the room.

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Cannes Film Festival: "Close" by Lukas Dhont, very serious candidate for the Palme d'Or

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• 20 minute video

• Carol's choice

• Cannes Film Festival 2022