My Life on Ice

Starring:Jimmy Tavares, Ariane Ascaride, Jonathan ZaccaÃ¯, HÃ©lÃ¨ne SurgÃ¨re, Lucas Bonnifait, FrÃ©dÃ©ric Gorny, Nicolas Pontois, FrÃ©dÃ©ric Sendon, Marcelle Lamy, FrÃ©dÃ©ric Voldman, Aliette Langolff-Colas, Hanako Bron, Camille DumalanÃ¨de, FaÃ¯za Tabti, Carole Wiart, Arnaud Boquier, Magali Hervieu
Director: Jacques Martineau, Olivier Ducastel
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Description

After receiving a videocamera for his 16th birthday, a competitive ice skater chronicles the world around him while struggling through adolescence and questioning his sexual identity.

Customer Reviews:

good acting, but borring.......2007-04-08

good acting, but it did get borring 20 min into the movie, i had to force myself to keep watching.

A young, deep, rich closet!.......2006-07-28

The English title does not refer to narcotics, by the way. This film involves a young ice skater who is obsessive about using his video camera. If this didn't have a plot and plot development, one would almost think it was non-fictional. The disjointed cuts and extraneous sights make the work complex, almost in the style of James Joyce's or Gertrude Stein's writings. However, I do imagine that most American viewers, even non-homophobic ones, will hate this work due to its unconventional (cheap?) style.

A Freudian could have a field day on this because there is so much scopophilia, exhibitionism, narcissism, and voyeurism. This work will make you think deeply about the power of who is behind the camera and the pleasure or annoyance of those who are in front of it. It'll make you think about how much boys, even grown ones, love their toys.

This is one of those rare movies that gets better as it ends, especially given that the cool male nudity and posing comes last. The ending was unexpected which reminded me of another French film "Romance."

In the United States, studies have shown that the media overly focuses upon New York and California. In France, that happens with Paris. However, this film is shot in Rouen, as the French title states. One gets to see the medieval, and possibly pre-Christian, architecture enhancing the scenes.

If you didn't know this was a "gay-themed" film, the viewer at first might not notice the masked homoeroticism. Bart Simpson and Milhouse Van Houten, straight-identified characters, have blocked each other from having girlfriends before. Some may call this "c*ckbl*ck*ng." However, the viewer begins to realize, "Wwaaiitt a minute! There sure is a lot of focus on men and male bodies. The only females around are his relatives. Here's a teenaged boy with absolutely no interest in girls." When I read "The Corporate Closet," I feared how straights could learn of the ways gays closet themselves. This film is a de-masking tool as well. By constantly asking about his male friend's love life and supporting it, the gay main character is able to avoid suspicion about his own sexuality and fit comfortably around heterosexuals. This is a vicarious love that those in the know could use against those in hiding.

An Anglophone coined the phrase "the love that dare not speak its name." But this must happen with Francophones too. No one ever says the G-word (in France, it would be the H-word.) Though his mother suggests that her son could benefit from a team sport like hockey, no one ever accuses figure skating of being a gender-atypical activity for a young male. Still, the tacit choices and eroticism in the film is exactly what numerous closeted boys experience.

Though dull at times, this was a thoughtful, chin-pinching film. I wish more American works could be this nuanced and detailed.

BOOOOORING.......2006-07-08

Very slow and boring. I would not recomment this unless you need a good sedative.

Unique and delightful coming out story.......2005-08-18

This French film did an excellent job of showing the process of coming out as a young gay man in a clever insightful manner. Etienne, a graceful competitive ice skater, receives a hand held video camera for his 16th birthday and begins a year long video diary. The wonderful twist on this plot devise is that the viewer now gets to see everthing that catches Etienne's eye, including passages of young working class laborers and firemen hunks. We see Etienne become obsessed with his handsome geography teacher whom he stalks and films. When Etienne is caught filming his teacher in class, a discussion between Laurent his teacher and his mother initiates a new love affair between the two. Of course this allows even more opportunities for Etienne to film and observe Laurent.

Etienne's best friend is handsome Ludovic who moves from virgin to young Don Juan. Etienne shows no interest in girls but rather follows Ludovic around filming him dancing with, kissing, and eventually making love to young women.

Etienne's innocence is charming and childlike. He films the other skaters in the dressing room and eventually is confronted by both Ludovic and Laurent regarding his filming. It is Laurent who confronts Etienne that his filming indicates he is attracted to men.

The video diary approach to this film was very fresh and clever with Etienne and Ludovic playing many games while filmaking.

The acting of all the characters was superb. Etienne's charming, beautiful, athletic mother was perfect for a young bright skater. His grandmother was charming. The handsome actors that played Ludovic and Laurent both perfect for their roles. The city of Rouen and the Normandy coast were a great setting and the film convinced you of setting and place.

Finally, several reviewers were concerned with the somewhat abrupt ending of the film. Etienne finally goes to bed with a young fellow and the film ends with them playing with the camera in bed filming each other after love making. I had no problem with this ending at all. After a year of struggling with obsession for his teacher and best friend, Etienne finds a young man with similar sexual orientation and the pieces begin to fall into place. Young gay men become obsessed with the handsome heterosexual males in their lives until they learn to focus this attention on men with their same sexual orientation, or at least the ones who want to minimize their frustration soon learn to focus. I felt that film ended with Etienne reaching this point in his life and the filmakers certainly took us on a delightful journey to reach this point.

A small gem of a film.......2004-09-06

"My Life on Ice" (2003) is a small gem of a film and the best kind of surprise--an intriguing, experimental French import released directly to DVD which offers more charm, wit, warmth and wisdom than 99% of today's Hollywood offerings.

French directors Jacques Martineau and Olivier Ducastle have fashioned their film as a video diary, filmed by young Etienne as he enters his seventeenth year. After receiving a video camera from his grandmother, he immediately begins constantly filming his mother, her boyfriend, his friends, and even himself in the year he dubs "the year of love", vowing to find love before his seventeenth birthday. As the year progresses, we learn much about Etienne mainly through what he chooses to film. It isn't long before it becomes apparent that Etienne, who is an extremely good-looking young man, has no interest whatsoever in girls, but plenty of interest in his hunky best friend and his mother's new boyfriend, who is also his teacher. What follows is a wonderful and realistic variation on a stale cinematic convention: the gay coming-of-age story.

One of the reasons "My Life on Ice" works so well is that the directors have actually filmed this story over a year's time, so we actually watch Etienne grow through the course of the film, much as he would in real life. Also, Etienne is a figure skater, played by an actor (Jimmy Tavares) who is a talented figure skater in real life, which adds to the realism. Also, they have their lead actor do as much of the filming as possible with the hand-held camera and have framed the picture so the audience appears to be watching home movies. This is one cinematic experiment that works extremely well.

As Etienne, Tavares is wonderfully natural and an appealing subject. Actually, the entire cast is pitch-perfect, as they begin the film extremely camera-conscious and then gradually get more comfortable until it appears they have almost forgotten the camera is there at all. And all the emotions of being filmed are there--the initial reluctance, the annoyance, the tantrums, the amusement. In all, Martineau and Ducastle hit the bullseye with this little delight.

My only problem is with the ending, which seems a bit abrupt, especially considering all that Etienne has gone through emotionally. My guess is many gay viewers will also be somewhat disappointed that the directors choose to end the film at the precise moment they do. Otherwise, this film works on every level.

An added treat on this DVD is the commentary (in English) by the co-directors, who are lovers in real life. Although they sometimes struggle with their English, they offer much insight into their filming techniques and why they chose to film over a year's time. Also, they are obviously enamored of their (very) young star, who they nearly swoon over at times, which is quite endearing to listen to. In all, "My Life on Ice" is highly recommended. **** (out of *****)

Average customer rating:

good acting, but borring
A young, deep, rich closet!
BOOOOORING
Unique and delightful coming out story
A small gem of a film

My Life on Ice [Region 2]
Starring: Jimmy Tavares , Ariane Ascaride , Jonathan Zaccaï , Hélène Surgère , and Lucas Bonnifait
Director: Olivier Ducastel , and Jacques Martineau
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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