Three Dancing Slaves

I totally hated this film after the dog was tortured. I hated writer director and actors for doing this. It ruined the film for me. In fact turned off the movie when they did that and sent it back. If you need to shock, kill an animal, torture the defenseless. Makes good drama? Makes good nothing in this viewers eyes. I will not mention any names responsible for this film. For that would encourage them to make another one. This is one producer, director, writer I will avoid in the future. I don't understand why animals are used to show violence. Don't these idiots know it only encourages the psychos and animal abusers to continue to do their damages? Are we encouraging them to continue to do their evil doings? Animal cruelty organizations are having enough problems getting these violators off the streets without stupid people like those who made this film encouraging them.

The film does an excellent job presenting (without politics or the need for either factual exposition or excessive narrative), the socio-economic situation in France for young males with excessive energy, time and desires on their hands. The films has a number of homoerotic undertones without really being a gay film. In fact, the segment for the third brother, which would qualify as the "gay segment" is the shortest and least developed of the three. While some people have viewed each of the three segments as being about the three brothers, they are really about all three of them, clearly interconnected and with each brother (even the missing oldest in the first sequence) being "present" and playing a role. I think it would have been a far better film if they had made it about two brothers and perhaps two closest friends. It actually is about three brothers and the close friend of one (Marc) who later became a close friend and romantic partner of another brother (Oliver). Personally, I also wouldn't have made some of the choices the filmmaker makes, I would have spent the time developing some of the other threads further. That said, it's an interesting film and means that the filmmaker may make further films of note, but I can't really recommend this as anything other than a rental when other, primary, choices are not available.

Some critics have said about this disaster of a film that it somehow echoes Claire Deni's 'Beau travail' or Fassbinder's 'Querelle' for what affects the way of filming male bodies/male colonies: I would rather say that Mr Morel attempts to plagiarize them and is very, very far from mastering the same art as them; I would even add that in some scenes, he even (unsucsessfully) tries to plagiarize Pasolini.Now, let's come to the plot: contrarily to his co-writer, Christophe Honoré, whose film 'Ma mère', no matter how unpleasant it may be to some people, knows exactly what it is about,'Le clan' is a huge mess that claims to explore the aspects of an all-male colony, and , as the director so kindly expresses it, the human male in its vulnerability, but fails at every level. First of all, almost all of his characters are formatted: same look, same shaved heads, same deliberately unclear sexual behaviour: it is as all of them have repressed homo-erotic fantasies, but at the same time display the most caricatural straight macho behaviour: take for instance, the scene when they're watching a pornographic film together, and in the adjacent room, there is a transvestite!!! (if they are so male, why not pay a female prostitute?) waiting to be f***** by all of them. Another example of total absurdity is when one of the brothers wants to avenge himself from drug dealers by provoking a hit-and-run car accident, and deliberately later crashes his car on a tree: another complete inconsistency; there are many others, such as for instance, the 3 brothers sleeping * together with their father watching them with an appalled glance (are all young men supposed to be incestuous???!!!) Not to mention this bastard of youngest brother who uses the Arab boy (the only consistent character in the film) to make him lose his virginity and then dumps him for no apparent reason and continues to have sex with his flying instructor. And with all of this, are we supposed to have understanding/compassion for a bunch of degenerate characters? No, I do not buy it, and, being a male myself, I would NEVER IN MY LIFE identify myself with these repulsive boys, who no way, in my opinion, represent a coherent portrait of today's young men.

We tend to laud films like American Beauty because they peel away the veneer of idealized American domesticity to reveal lives of quiet desperation. We take comfort in that -- knowing that even seemingly perfect lives are, under the surface, as miserable as we might view our own to be. In Morel's Le Clan (Three Dancing Slaves was the title I saw it under here in the States), we get a truer, less sanitized view of real lives laid bare. The desperation isn't quiet. It's crazed and exposed and all too believable. It's a very masculine film showing how men just do what they do. No apologies and, all too often, no explanations. Yet, somehow, it's relatable and understandable. Yes, it's a slice of pain punctuated with too few moments of what we would call joy. But sprinkled throughout are small glimpses of a more beautiful world. It's not lost on these characters. And it's not lost on the viewer. I found it haunting and heart-wrenching.

WARNING - SPOILERS!! Three Dancing Slaves tells the (incoherent) story of three brothers - one living on the border of crime, the second - an ex con trying to make good after a stint in jail, the third - a gay teenager in love with an Arab into Capoeira dancing. There are a lot of scenes in this that are reminiscent of those perv-y scenes from Baywatch - lots of buff, sexy men splashing around in water in slow-mo - total eye candy galore. Then there are a lot of scenes which are completely confronting and dumbfounding (eg: quasi-incest scene, dog in bath with naked man) - a la Ken Park. But I found that I just couldn't connect with any of these characters. The "plot" is way too strange for the viewer to have a grasp on what's going on (eg: quasi-incest scene, scene with a biker having sex with a transvestite, dog attack scene). The biker brother is just so strange and off-putting as a human being - you just don't have any sympathy for him at the end of the film. The gay couple is fairly underbaked and the viewer is left confused when the Arab boyfriend leaves the gay brother - unexpectedly and for no substantial reason. Also bewildering is the homoeroticism - the movie is made up of 99% male characters - all cavorting in homoerotic behaviour (eg: gym, splashing around, getting shaved) - yet most of them are supposed to be straight. It sort of felt like they were pandering for a high "gay eye candy". It felt like at times you were watching a David DeCoteau film. My verdict - don't bother with this eye-candy heavy film - you are probably better off watching pron or a David DeCoteau film instead (at least David DeCoteau films have better plots!)!

I believe this film aspired to tell us something, but I can't say that I discovered it in the course of viewing. To guess along with some other reviewers, perhaps the director wanted to show a realistic depiction of the despair and turmoil in the a family destabilized by the death of a parent and the effect on the survivors? But my question is - what is it about this director's way of telling the story that makes this film unique? Or different? I learn nothing from this film and come away asking 'why was this film made?' Perhaps this film resonates differently in its home market (France?) than in the U.S, but I can understand why most US audiences would be disinterested: the English title :Le Clan" mystifies me - (a translation issue perhaps? whatever - a poor choice for the US market) and besides the uninteresting theme, there is poor story development, gaps in some of the story that leave one groping for "what happened?" and an odd final scene: the ending of the film is just plain strange. The production team clearly had higher ambitions than an eye-candy film (and the homo-erotic visuals aren't bad) but the subject matter is largely depressing and the story itself poorly developed; i was never drawn into the brother's plight, their individual stories, or a sense of what their lives hold for them in the future. Despite the failures, there is one bright spot in Salim Kericouche, who is excellent, His character plays a friend of the family(Hachim) and it is through his eyes most of the story is told. The sub-plot of Hachim's affair with youngest brother Olivier was well done, but late in the film and inadequately explored. The final scene of the film of Olivier meeting the flying instructor and going into the cabin left me mystified; I'm not sure what it meant (???) I would like to rate this one higher, but I feel a bit generous giving it 4 stars out of a possible 10...

Because a large majority of moviegoers expect to be simply 'entertained and made happy' by cinema it makes sense that this film would prove difficult for some audiences to digest. But I would urge anyone with a love of cinema to watch 'Le Clan' as it is a very honest portrayal of a working class family made up of characters that do not necessarily fit together in obvious ways. Though Le Clan is unbridled and overtly masculine, none of the characters are hyper-realised. Not every thought that is in their head is vocalised either and there are no forced (dare I say it, Spielberg-esquire) conclusions drawn at the end of the film. For this reason I'm sure it failed to satisfy certain viewers more used to neat resolutions in the films they watch but I have to say this is one of the reasons I loved it. The camera does indeed linger over the actors in seemingly quite exploitative ways, however I felt there was merit in this also. For example, Christophe remains clothed throughout the film except for one scene in which he is concealed by Marc and Olivier. Christophe is an open character who responds and reacts and is open enough not to require a reveal of his physique. However, Marc's abrupt and conflictingly passive aggressive nature requires that kind of adoration in order for the audience to witness the truth of him, his body and his physical beauty being more noticeable than the real him. With regards Olivier, he at first seems too young for anyone to be looking at him in that way but then he is revealed as having the body of a man, therefore demands that the audience treat him as such and as the film progresses the audience is able to. The scene where Marc is forced to kill his dog is heartbreaking as this is the one creature he loves unreservedly. Marc cannot say that of his friends, his father, his brothers or the prostitutes he visits. After this we watch him crumble eventually unable to even carry out the revenge plot he's made his goal throughout the film. Out of all the brothers Christophe represents what each of them perhaps has to look forward to, the process of being tamed, becoming a cog in the machine and taking ones place amongst the dead meat, whereas Olivier is sensitive and hard to define, both sexually and otherwise. The scene in the boathouse between Olivier and Hicham is interesting when you think of the fact that the actors had to do it for real but not so when thought of within context of the characters and their lives. While the song that bookends their relationship is so mournful and beautiful that you almost feel the foreboding fleetingness of their love as you view it. As an observer you feel as though the characters have gotten under your skin and by the end of the film whether watching as the impotent father or as the adoring Hicham you're not sure which one of the brothers out of Marc, Christophe or Olivier you care for most as neither is totally defined by what they do. I have to say I felt a strong connection to this film for reasons I can't quite pinpoint and that is why I recommend 'Le Clan'. It is a haunting and beautiful film that stays with you long after you have viewed it.

This is a beautifully made film. The acting and production values are superb. I think the reason that some reviewers have difficulty with this film is just that it's a very simple film...It's about three young men dealing with the loss of their mother, and a father who has lost his wife. Each brother finds his own way to deal with his loss; one through drug abuse and self injury, one becomes his father, and another discovers the courage to express his desires. Morel allows the characters to breathe, and respects us enough to expect us to pay attention to visual clues which are equally important as spoken dialog, without spelling out all the details. Morel is masterful at depicting the emotional tone between individuals and groups. For instance, the scene in which Christophe has just come home from prison is extremely complex. There's a great deal of homo-erotic nuance between the brothers and their friends in this scene. While Morel creates a space for it, and fully inhabits it, he never feels a need to make a point of it, to make a statement. There's simply no need for that. It's not that they are gay or straight, but precisely that the lines between gay and straight are rather fuzzy between these good friends. Putting that message into words would create a self conscious tone in the film which could destroy the dense fabric of emotional ambiguity in which the brothers live. It may well be that part of the brothers emotional problems have to do with the intensity of their feelings for each other, and their fear of expressing them, as well. All three have shortcomings, and none find a way to fully escape the trauma that defines their family. In the end, the ironic point is that the slave dancer is free enough to take a principled, self respecting stand to end a demeaning relationship, yet the three brothers who look down on him are enslaved to their past. The plot(and there is one) is entirely subservient to the emotional issues of the characters. If you're looking for a plot driven movie, this film has a plot, but the issues that drive the plot are almost entirely internal. This is a film not primarily about events, but how people respond to events and the ways in which their responses shape their lives. Viewed from that perspective, this is a unique and powerful film.

A Gael Morel film whose theme will be familiar to viewers who have seen "Wild Reeds" or "Come Undone" : young, handsome, sexy, disturbed young Frenchies trapped in the limited prospects offered by the mediocre towns and cities far from Paris. Here we have the three sons of an indifferent French father and a Maghreb mother, recently deceased. Where they live horny young men lack even a town * for relief and, resignedly, must rely on the local grouchy, bored transvestite. Morel favorite Stephane Rideau is a 20-something, "scared straight" ex con who will trade his youthful wildness for the dull comfort and security of middle class respectability while his two younger brothers grapple, respectively, with intolerable powerlessness and gay love. All the guys are eye candy and Morel and his actors have never suffered from fear of frontal. All of which would mean little were it not for the interesting characters and Morel's unique cinematic style. Rent it. You'll enjoy it. And if it turns out you disagree, hell, it's only 88 minutes including the credits crawl. Jim Smith

This movie exhibited wonderful filmography, surprisingly convincing performances and gorgeous young men. Where this film was lacking tremendously was the plot. Even though it had so much potential, it's execution was haphazard, and too much time was spent on unnecessary scenes, so toward the end it felt rushed, and the relationship between Olivier (Thomas Dumerchez) and Hicham (Salim Kechiouche) if it were developed more deeply, would have made for a wonderful film. Finally, the ending left me lacking as if it would continue next week. In other words, the entire film felt like an episode in a larger series. It felt unresolved; unfinished. And the extended Soliloquy, conveyed in the form of letters written to Christophe (I believe) certainly did not make up for a proper ending. That really frustrated me.