On at the same time
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Coward
Sat
24
Sat 24 Oct 6:15 PM
The Piccadilly: Cinema 1
General Admission
Unclassified 18+
125 MinsAstounding newcomer Emmanuel Macchia plays Pierre, a gentle giant sent from the wheat fields of Belgium to the Western Front during World War 1. Embraced by his fellow soldiers despite his tendency to keep his words close, he finds new purpose. Not while carrying heavy artillery to the hellish trenches, but in the quiet moments stolen when he’s alone with outspoken tailor-turned-soldier Francis (Valentin Campagne). Blurring the lines between the enforced masculinity of the army and their gently unfurling feelings for one another, the pair don dresses in the burlesque-style shows Francis stages to entertain their fellow conscripts and their superiors alike. But even as their popularity soars while they pas de deux on stage, there’s no room for the truth of their depth of feeling for one another, found in the hopelessness of war’s dark and bloody theatre. And yet, the power of love in a battlefield remains undimmed in this Queer Palm-nominated treasure from Close (2022) director Lukas Dhont. Beautifully lensed by his regular cinematographer, Frank van den Eeden, it echoes Claire Denis’ Beau Travail (1999) and South African filmmaker Oliver Hermanus’ Moffie (2019). You’ll want to sign up, whatever the emotional cost.