Are there sadder words in Hebrew poetry than “and she went to play with another boy”? About eighty years ago, the short poem by Miriam Yelan-Shteklis distilled the pain of a child who does not understand why a loved one turned his back on him, and evoked sympathy among countless children of all ages. Last year this pain was developed by the Belgian director Lucas Dunnet into a gentle and beautiful film, which is now nominated for an Oscar in the international category.
The beginning of “Kirba” illustrates with shining colors the love of two best friends, 13-year-old Leo and Rami, during the summer vacation. The villagers spend most of their time together. They play together, eat together, laugh at the same things, run in the flower fields, and sleep together in bed like kittens. At the beginning of the school year, they also ride together to school, and sit together in class. Their relationship continues to be full of tenderness and intimacy, until the day one daughter asks them if they are a couple. Lao is in no hurry to deny, Rami is silent. In the following days, Leo begins to observe his relationship with Rami through the eyes of the children at school, and is stressed by the closeness that was previously so natural and strange. When he withdraws from her, and looks for more sporty and aggressive pursuits in the company of other boys, Rami is deeply hurt, and his heart goes out to him.
Does Rami Aldin love Lao in a different way than he loves him? Or are they both gay, but Lau still doesn’t feel comfortable identifying as such? The film has few dialogues and avoids providing an unequivocal answer. Contrary to the tendency of most coming-of-age films to incorporate a narrative of sexual maturation into their plots, “Kirba” depicts its heroes as those who have not yet arrived there. Once or twice (mainly in the final shot) he reminded me of Truffaut’s “400 lashes”, in the center of which there is a great love between two 14-year-olds, Antoine and Rene, who have not yet begun to socialize with girls (women will be the center of Antoine’s life in the four sequels). “Closeness” does hint to us that Rami may be depressed – his mother (Emily Deccan from “Rosetta”) is depressed when he locks himself in the bathroom. And there is another reason to assume that Dont, who identifies as gay, and co-screenwriter Angelo Theissens, who also wrote his previous film with him, are interested in the subject of queer coming of age.
The clues are in the subtext, but the story is clear. “closeness”. Photo: PR
“Kirba” which won the “Grand Prix”, the second most important prize at the Cannes Film Festival, is Donut’s second film. His first film, “Girl” from 2018 – about a 15-year-old ballet dancer who was born in a male body – also made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the “Proud Palm” award. After receiving a Golden Globe nomination, “Girl” was expected to receive an Oscar nomination as well, but then representatives of the transgender community declared war on the film (partly because the heroine was played by a cisgender boy), and it was left out of the competition.
This time it seems that the media of the gay community, as well as everyone else, is embracing the film. The closeness between Leo and Remy, played by a pair of fresh and beautiful actors, is something I have never seen in cinema. The first part of the film, including the alienation phase, provides a sensual, immersive and very touching viewing experience, which is all subtext. But then the film makes a radical move, which changes its course and presents Leo with a different kind of confrontation. Some viewers react to this change by crying traffic lights. I felt that it was too dramatic and less justified – things still remain vague – and therefore the second part of “Kirba” spoke to me less.
Keep their heads down. “closeness”. Photo: PR
And I had another question. Lau’s farmer parents grow dahlias, which lend a lot of color to the film, which devotes quite a few scenes to working in the fields in the different seasons. When it came time to pick, I didn’t understand why Lau and the other workers were careful to pick the heads of the flowers, and not pick them with the stem. Then I thought maybe it was a symbolic image of something, but as the daughter of a flower grower, it still bothered me.
4 stars
Close Directed by: Lucas Dunnett. With Aden Dambrin, Gustave de Vallée, Emily Deccan. Belgium 2022, 104 min.