Stay Updated

Read our Weekly Gayzette for the latest (and gayest) movie screenings, community events, and industry news from the Bay Area and beyond!

You're viewing the Frameline26 (2002) archive held in 2002. Explore this years festival

The Man I Love

Directed by Stéphane Giusti1997France91 mins

What gay man hasn't sat beside a pool and dreamed of declaring his love to a beautiful straight boy whose Speedo fits just right? How many of us have dared to hope that we might actually get to peel the swimsuit away, or that our love might even be returned? Well, for the irrepressible Martin, just dreaming and hoping are no longer enough.

In this wonderfully sweet 1997 made-for-TV film from director Stéphane Giusti (whose Why Not Me? charmed Frameline audiences in 1999), Martin falls for the straight Lucas the moment he sees him leap from the high dive, and decides to take a leap of his own. Within minutes he declares his love to Lucas, who is less than thrilled. No one is more surprised than Martin, then, when his seemingly hopeless infatuation ends up bringing him friendship, passion and even true love. The only problem is that, for Martin, it all may have come too late.

This tender story of two lovers who find the meaning of life just as one of them is preparing to leave it will both warm your heart and break it, and have you smiling through your tears. Throw in a mother who roars around town in a pink Mercedes with outfits to match, AlDS activists fighting for better treatments, a deaf drag queen who signs his routines instead of lip-synching, a gay wedding and beautiful locations in and around Marseilles, and you have a uniquely French but touchingly universal love story that is like nothing you'll find on American TV!

Quick links
Original Language Title
L'homme que j'aime
Director
Stéphane Giusti
Year
1997
Country
France
Running Time
91 mins
Language
French
Cast/Participants
Jean-Michel Portal, Marcial Di Fonzo Bo, Mathilde Seigner, Vittoria Scognamiglio, Jacques Hansen, Stéphane Lévêque, Karim Lounis, Bernard Nissile, Stéphanie Giusti