L’Homme blessé (1983) - film review

Whilst waiting to see his sister off at a Paris railway station, Henri, a withdrawn adolescent, realises he is being watched by another man.  He follows the stranger to the men’s toilets where he finds him being assaulted by another man, who spontaneously kisses Henri.   The following evenings, Henri returns to the station to try to find the man who kissed him and eventually meets up with him.  The man, Jean, is a rough crook and homosexual pimp, but Henri is drawn to him and insists on following him around.   Henri’s parents notice a change in their son’s behaviour, but their hostile reaction merely hastens his alienation and descent into the abyss...

Arguably one of the darkest screen portrayals of homosexual awakening, L’Homme blessé is director Patrice Chéreau’s most controversial work to date, and many spectators will find it a harrowing film to watch.  The nocturnal settings, sparse dialogue and assembly of shady characters give the film the feel of an erotic existentialist nightmare, offering a profound and poignant metaphor for the soul-crushing isolation experienced by a lonely man upon discovering his homosexuality.

Brutally explicit in its stark minimalist cinematography, the film offers a convincing depiction of a young man who is driven by a sexual urge he cannot control or rationalise, an urge he consciously loathes and struggles against.  Both the urge and the struggle drive him into further isolation, culminating in a shocking and unavoidable act of destruction which vividly illustrates the danger of surpressed sexuality.

The film stars Jean-Hugues Anglade in what remains his most courageous and striking screen role, playing the taciturn mixed-up adolescent Henri with so much conviction that it is hard to believe he is enacting a fictional piece of drama.  Anglade pours everything he has into this performance and the film’s impact rests mainly on his sympathetic portrayal of Henri as a vulnerable victim of his own tragic humanity.

© James Travers 2002

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