STREAMING CINEMA
Paris Proud: Gay Life Over Decades
French queer desire from Mitterand to marriage equality
BY GARY M. KRAMER
Getting an American “virtual
theatrical” release,
“Proud” is an engaging,
three-part French miniseries
from 2018 about fathers
and sons, gay life in France, and
the politics and social change that
occurred in that country over the
past few decades.
The fi rst episode is set in 1981,
when discrimination against gays
was still legal in France. The election
of François Mitterrand provides
a backdrop to emphasize the
Socialist issues that attracted voter
support and how they infl uence
the characters who are hoping for
a stronger France.
Charles (Frédéric Pierrot) is the
manager of a construction site, and
his 17 year-old-son Victor (Benjamin
Voisin) helps him out after
school. One afternoon, Charles
spies Victor kissing his classmate
Sélim (Sami Outalbali), the son of
his foreman, Sofi ane (Hafi d Djemaï).
Charles doesn’t say anything
about what he sees, but he is not
pleased, and his confl ict infl uences
how he treats Victor, Sélim, and
Sofi ane.
“Proud” shows how the personal
is political in both its discussion of
race — Sélim and Sofi ane are Arab
and working-class — and sexuality.
Victor tries to “be straight”
with his girlfriend, Aurélie (Lou
Roy-Lecollinet), but one night he
goes out cruising and meets Serge
(Stanislas Nordey), an older man
who takes him to bed. If this drama
enters familiar coming out territory,
the series avoids mawkish
sentimentality in favor of a shrewd
chat between Charles and Serge,
with each man hoping to win the
devotion of Victor. The episode ends
with Victor having to choose.
The program is particularly well
acted by Voisin, who makes Victor
sympathetic. When Victor is confl
icted about his sexuality and bullied
in school, his angst is palpable.
And his exchanges with Serge
express not only the novelty teenagers
have when they fall in love
Sami Outalbali and Benjamin Voisin as teenaged Sélim and Victor.
for the fi rst time, but also the way
they can so easily be heartbroken
by a man of experience.
Pierrot and Norday provide
strong support; they ground the
series and appear in all three episodes.
The second part of “Proud” is
set in 1999. Victor (now played by
Samuel Theis) is an architect. He
is still romantically connected to
Serge, but they have an open relationship.
Victor is discreet when he
fools around, but his real need for
discretion comes when he decides
he wants to adopt a child — which
was not viable for gay men and lesbians
at that time in France. Victor’s
efforts to adopt show how gay
men must subvert rules they did
not make and do not want to follow.
Meanwhile, civil partnership
laws are being voted on — though
Victor and Serge say they would
prefer full equality.
Adding to Victor’s complications
is his unexpected reunion with Sélim
(now played by Nicolas Cazalé),
whom he meets on a job site. Sélim
is married with two kids, but
the old fl ame between them still
burns. Before long, the men are
stealing kisses and hooking up.
How their relationship plays out
as well as what transpires with
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Samuel Theis as the adult Victor.
Victor’s efforts to adopt form the
central drama in this episode. The
series benefi ts from the frisson between
Victor and Sélim — Cazalé
is irresistibly sexy — but also the
emotional strains that develop between
Victor and Serge and Victor
and his father.
“Proud” manages these minidramas
well, but the lessons do
get a bit obvious during a scene
of Victor listening to opera while
contemplating his fraught emotional
state. It’s a minor misstep
in a series that otherwise moves
briskly. Director Philippe Faucon,
who co-wrote the screenplay with
José Caltagirone and Niels Rahou,
makes his points without milking
them. The fi lm features a character
with AIDS, and a subplot involving
Basile (Phénix Brossard), a queer
teen facing homelessness, without
becoming didactic.
The last episode of the series is
arguably the weakest as it concentrates
on — spoiler alert — Diego
(Julien Lopez), Victor’s adopted son.
It is 2013, and Diego is a teenager
who gets into fi ghts at school with
Paul (Hugo Sire). Diego also falls in
love with Paul’s sister, Noémie (Rebecca
Marder). Politically, the episode
addresses the legalization of
gay marriage in France, but more
signifi cant is Victor being attacked
by extremists on his way to a Pride
Parade.
“Proud” uses these situations —
as well as Paul and his parents’ homophobia
— to show how change
is still necessary in contemporary
France. If Charles has become more
accepting over the decades, Victor,
in raising his son, acts more like
his father. These family dynamics
are interesting to explore, and
one wishes Faucon could have expanded
his series to that end. Instead,
some of the storyline, such
as Victor’s fl irtation with a doctor
(Jérémie Elkaïm), are crammed
into the plot for expediency.
This is just another minor drawback
in a series that is largely engaging
and provocative. The main
characters — Charles, Serge, Victor,
Sélim, and Diego — may all be
stubborn, but they do reach epiphanies.
“Proud” consists of three episodes
each approximately 45 to 50
minutes long. It can — and should
— be watched in one sitting. When
it ends — I’m betting — most viewers
will want more.
PROUD | Directed by Philippe Faucon
| In French with English subtitles
| Kino Lorber | Available in
Virtual Cinemas via KinoMarquee
at kinomarquee.com/
June 18 - June 24, 2 36 020 | GayCityNews.com
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