Part 11 - The French Kissers (Les beaux gosses)

Not quiet a literal translation, but certainly one that works for this film, The French Kissers (Les beaux gosses) is Riad Sattouf first foray into the glistening world of cinema. A fun and seemingly honest take on French teenagers in modern, multi-ethnic France.

My poco amount of research into this film had located an interview with Sattouf in The Age. He came across as an ambitious writer (not fazed by any criticism of his literary work), but as a director, possibly thought he may not have had what it took to finish see project through. But he did, and a great job he did too.

Sattouf clearly adores his characters and the world he created for them. Sure, there are times when you laugh at them because of how they look, or the silly things they say, but this is part of their journey: looking awkward, feeling stupid and saying the wrong things all the time. One can see that a main priority of Sattouf’s was to depict ‘coming of age’ as closely, and awkwardly as he could. This is an average story about average people. The cast are all first timers and are rather exceptional, playing their roles superbly. The more senior characters are all rather delightfully portrayed, with Noemie Lvovsky as loving but playful mother stealing the show.

Stylistically, Sattouf seems to revel in his ‘first-timer’ status and has fun with the direction of the film. As can be seen with most modern films, we can see the affect of the music video generation, but there is an unique, playful freshness to his directorial style. The film itself employs, in my opinion, the successful ‘episodic’ style of story telling – it has no specific starting or ending, it is rather an episode in their characters’ lives. This style of story telling means the audience hits the ground running. There is no time wasted on building up the character in front of the audience: we learn about them as their adventures unfold. Good writing shows us, it doesn’t tell us.

Sattouf seems to approach the world of cinema much like the characters in his film; full of amazement and wonder, but with a strong sense of self. You will enjoy this film and laugh and cringe along with the characters. A great first effort and a wonderfully enjoyable film.