Les témoins (2007)

Director:

André Téchiné

Writers:

André Téchiné (scenario, adaptation and dialogue) and
Laurent Guyot (scenario, adaptation and dialogue) ...

Release Date:

7 March 2007 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Paris, 1984: A group of friends contend with the first outbreak of the AIDS epidemic.

Plot Keywords:

Gay | AIDS | Death | Opera Singer | Doctor

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Michel Blanc	...	Adrien
Emmanuelle Béart	...	Sarah
Sami Bouajila	...	Mehdi
Julie Depardieu	...	Julie
Johan Libéreau	...	Manu
Constance Dollé	...	Sandra
Lorenzo Balducci	...	Steve
Alain Cauchi	...	Sheriff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Barbas	...	Medhi's colleague
Xavier Beauvois	...	L'éditeur
Raphaëline Goupilleau	...	La mère de Julie et Manu
Jacques Nolot	...	Le patron de l'hôtel
Maïa Simon	...	La mère de Sarah
Bertrand Soulier	...	Doctor #1

Also Known As:

The Witnesses (International: English title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Italy:VM14 | Taiwan:R-12 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company:

UGC Distribution

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In one of the first sequence you can see slightly blurred in the background the logo of the LCL bank (yellow letters on a blue background). The LCL name/logo was only introduced around 2005 and there did not exist yet in 1984.

Movie Connections:

References La femme publique (1984)

Soundtrack:

Restez avec moi

Casting agents in effect

Overall, this movie was OK. The male lead actors all were very good and believable in their parts. The homosexuality was presented in a natural, matter-of-fact manner, instead of pedantic or problematic. The way the start of the aids era was captured was disturbing, but it seemed very realistic. There were some things in this movie that annoyed me however. First of all, the female characters. Depardieu is your typical withdrawn, a-sexual, artistic, female French cinema archetype. I can live with that though. Far more irritating was the presence of Beart, who was totally miscast. What is a blown-up plastic Barbie doll doing in a movie that is situated in the early eighties, when plastic surgery was not even properly born yet?? Her acting is (partly due to her renovated face) very flat and expressionless and it would have been better if she had been altogether left out. An other revealing mistake is the American guy/gay, who shows up in the last part of the movie; quite confusing when a character who is so proud of his multi-lingual talents has such a strong foreign accent when he speaks his mother tongue...