Etienne, a budding competitive figure skater, is given a present of a video camera and thus we enter into his "life on ice". An interesting companion video to my last review, "Edge of Seventeen". Both films deal with 17 to 18 yo boys who are discovering their sexuality and that it is not their parent's version.
But that's really where the comparison stops. "My Life On Ice" is, afterall, a French movie! French movies are rarely anything like those made in America where a plot rides to a climax and then resolution. Add to that the fact that the entire film is shot through Etienne's camera, and you have a really interesting film from many aspects.
The cast is very voyueristically attractive, and the young actor who plays Etienne, Jimmy Tavares, is not only a credible actor, but also an accomplished skater which really is another key to the film's compelling believability. The "home video" ambience heightens your awareness as you seek out every bit of information that each moment provides into the lives of Etienne, his family and friends. All the while his secret broods and reveals itself in both the choices of his video subjects, as well as, his own actions when the camera is handed off to one of the other characters and turned back upon himself. It's a wonderful 100 minutes of cinema.
Written and directed by the real life couple Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, it is a follow-up of sorts to their previous collaboration, "Adventures of Felix." I hope that theirs is a long and fruitful partnership.
Je recommande ce film å chacun.
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