Lie With Me – Film Review
by Hugh Maguire

Director Olivier Peyon
Writers Philippe Besson, Arthur Cahn, Olivier Peyon
Stars Guillaume de Tonquédec, Victor Belmondo, Guilaine Londez

The title of the great French novel À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu captures the essence of lost youth and the longing for what is past and cannot be reclaimed.  For Marcel Proust (1871-1922) it is the madeleine moment that involuntarily triggers his recall.  For the subject of Lie With Me, a literary cultural weekend in his native village has something of that madeleine impact. An almost reluctant visitor to the scenes of his youth and childhood the event triggers all sorts of recollections and brings him face to face with the key trigger moment of his life – the love of a fellow school pupil.

By now an established, and acclaimed, novelist this teenage love has conditioned his literary output over the decades.  He is a great writer of love that has not found love himself – no surprise to the viewer that the subject does not always come across as the warmest of characters.  The narrative is simple – a return to the provincial town of one’s birth, coming face to face with memories and recollections which have been a burden and a reconciliation with those same memories.  Coming face to face with the son of his one-time lover is the triggering moment for the avalanche of memory and regret. But around this, and supported by very polished acting, we are confronted with the reality of how all of us have memories and loves that get forgotten or misinterpreted. These accumulated experiences of our childhood, for better or worse, can hang around and make us into what we are.  Much is made of the LGBTQ+ narrative and the exploration of hidden teenage sexuality in a different age.   Too much can be made of this and in many respects, many first loves of all sexuality and gender types, consummated or not, can have repercussions down through the years. The young actors conveying this passion are magnificent and the fleeting looks and glances, are charged with erotic tension and longing. Indeed the whole film benefits from an accomplished portfolio of subtle understated performances and at times we feel this is documentary footage – it is not!

Set within a tight chronological time frame of two days, and the build-up to the commemoration dinner, there is little time to relax and the viewer is caught up in the pace of the event – the obligatory book signings, the drinks with sponsorship hosts, the speech making.  The hassled event manager who keeps the main guest happy while making sure everything is running smoothly for everyone else is captured brilliantly. She is of a type that keeps the arts festivals of the world functioning while receiving little thanks and for her characterisation alone, the film is worth a visit.