One to Another

This movie almost remind me of The Dreamers (Original Uncut NC-17 Version) a marvelous film - charming, moving, sexy, political, nostalgic In spite of the ridiculous NC-17 rating, highly recommended for all teenagers. "One to Another" explores five characters who live in a town in provincial France. At the center of it all is Pierre (Arthur Dupont), a conceited and vain bisexual musician in his late teens who acts as a magnet, to varying degrees, for a whole array of characters -- from his sister, Lucie (Lizzie Brocheré),The siblings lie around naked, with matching strawberry birthmarks prominently displayed on their cheek-to-cheek posteriors. Lucie listens passively as Pierre spouts pithy thoughts about sexual aggression replacing political activism as a tool of youthful revolt.

Pierre's experiments with his sexual powers soon extend to paying relationships with the town elders -- including dim-lit orgies in upscale living rooms -- and complete sexual domination over the other members of the gang. When he disappears and is later found savagely beaten to death, suspects abound.

The directors have conceived their pic as a cross between a crime thriller and an incestuous love story, with Lucie as the narrative center, driving the search for Pierre's killers. Unfortunately, however, she moves the story forward and backward in time through the rather tired device of writing out her memories for a shrink.

The casting of the boys are annoyingly unattentive. They all look so undistinguishable from each other. It takes forever to recognize who's who. But the film is awfully sensual and often mesmerizing. The lead actress is captivating.Although the mystery of Pierre's murder is intensified rather than resolved by the revelation of those responsible, the killing provides a storyline for an aimless succession of sex and/or sunbathing scenes, which otherwise are only broken up by a run-of-the-mill rock band formed by the free-love group. It's not a masterpiece but it certainly is good.

ONE TO ANOTHER is of of very few interesting movies that isn't shy about showing off its teenager cast's nubile flesh. The story of murder in a smalltown might be too far-fetched, but the mood was right and the cast was so enticing. Not to be missed. CAUTION: hard-coded subtitles can be so irritating at times though.

**SPOILERS**

Based on a true story, the provocative and haunting French drama, "One to Another," is a lyrical, erotically-charged tale of forbidden love set within the context of a murder mystery. The story focuses on Lucie, a beautiful young woman in her early 20s, and her highly unorthodox relationship with four men who have been her inseparable "pals" since childhood. One of those men is her own bisexual brother, Pierre, whose death under mysterious circumstances serves as the catalyst for the movie's plot. In true Gallic fashion, "One to Another" seems somehow less concerned with the killing than with the way sex defines the lives of these characters, yet when the solution to the mystery finally comes, it is both shocking and profoundly disturbing in the truths it reveals about human nature.

Probably only the French could get away with exploring sexuality from so many different angles in a single movie, and, true to form, "One to Another" plunges unflinchingly into topics that would normally never be broached in polite society. Lucie's quasi-incestuous relationship with Pierre, in particular, comes about as close to pushing the envelope as anything one is ever likely to find on screen (though Bertolucci`s "The Dreamers," another popular French film from a few years back, dealt with a similar situation). And while the movie doesn't come right out and condemn the characters for their free-floating sexuality, it seems to imply that, without a clear moral compass to guide a person through life, even the most heinous of acts will finally be deemed acceptable.

One problem with the movie is that while Lucie is a beautifully realized and compelling character (brought to exquisite life by Lizzie Brochere), the same cannot be said for the boys in the story, who look, dress and act so much alike that it often becomes hard to differentiate them one from another (though, I hasten to add that the actors are all very good in their roles). This not only leads to confusion on the part of the viewer but to an imbalance in the chemistry of the story, since Lucie is so much more intriguing than the men with whom she`s having all these relationships. That sense of disorientation is further compounded in the early stages of the movie by the fact that it takes awhile for us to realize that many of the scenes we are watching are actually flashbacks to earlier events. Once we are able to get our temporal bearings, however, this ceases to be a problem and the structure actually enhances the insightfulness of the film.

"One to Another" is definitely worth checking out, provided one is not easily offended by nudity, simulated sex scenes, or the exploration of troubling themes. Moreover, because the movie is blessed with artful direction (by Pascal Arnold and Jean-Marc Barr) and gorgeous cinematography (by Barr and Chris Keohane), the alluring imagery and sensuous rhythms ultimately cast a spell over the audience. And that kicker at the end will send you reeling.

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