Two visions of love and longing among military men unfold amid lush, senses-stunning landscapes in these ravishing cinematic hallucinations. An island overrun by hydrangeas whose rich purple color seems to drip from each frame is the dreamily apocalyptic setting for a romance between two soldiers in Jorge Jácome’s lavender-drenched alternate-reality “documentary” FLORES. A similarly intoxicating study of desire and masculinity plays out in Claire Denis’s BEAU TRAVAIL, a mesmerizing take on Herman Melville’s “Billy Budd, Sailor” in which the sunbaked landscapes of coastal Djibouti heighten the simmering erotic tension.
Directed by Jorge Jácome • 2017 • Portugal
Starring André Andrade, Gabriel Desplanque, Jorge Jácome
Drenched in lysergic lavender, this sci-fi pseudo-documentary is both a dreamy vision of ecological apocalypse and a tender queer love story set on an island in the Azores overrun by endlessly pro...
Directed by Claire Denis • 1999 • France
Starring Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin
With her ravishingly sensual take on Herman Melville’s “Billy Budd, Sailor,” Claire Denis firmly established herself as one of the great visual tone poets of our time. Amid the azure waters and sunbaked ...
