By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Pascal-Alex Vincent
Starring: Alexandre Carril | Anaïs Demoustier | Patrick Hauthier | Victor Carril
Original language title: Donne-moi la main
Country: france, germany
Year: 2009
Running time: 80
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0877700/
Bruce says: “Many famous films have twins as characters: HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, GONE WITH THE WIND, GIANT but they remain just a statement of fact or a plot adjunct, not an exploration of a phenomenon. Other notable films such as DEAD RINGERS and THE PARENT TRAP get deeply involved in the issues of twindom. Since most of us are fascinated by the concept of what it is like to be a twin, it is curious that there are not more films out there attempting to tackle the issue.
“Director Pascal-Alex Vincent is very insistent that his film is merely an atmospheric film not a psychological study. Reaching that goal may have been possible had he used one or two professional actors to play the twins. He chose Alexandre and Victor Carril largely because he was fascinated by their dynamic as he found them arguing on the streets of his arrondissement. Their arguments were serious and often violent. What Vincent saw on the streets transfers nicely to film. He first used the twins in his short film, BABY SHARK. In GIVE ME YOUR HAND, the Carrils’ love/hate relationship is ever present whenever they are in the same frame. When the director was asked about using the twins again, he implied he had finished his twin period. Too bad. Here is a unique opportunity to explore the changing dynamic of identical twins as they age and travel through the vicissitudes of several decades.
“GIVE ME YOUR HAND is a road film about the twins traveling to Spain to their mother’s funeral. We find out later that the twins never knew their mother, but no explanation is given. In France, they work for their father who is a baker. An early scene of hands touching through glass gives the viewer a perspective of their strange relationship. Then the trip begins with the twins hopping on the back of a truck hauling giant sewer pipes. Victor has a dalliance with a girl named Clementine. Antoine furtively watches them having sex. Both twins draw constantly and each is often the other’s subject.
“The next sexual caper involves both boys, each with one of two girls who pick them hitchhiking. When the twins run out of money, they find day labor baling hay. After dark Antoine sneaks off to have sex with one of the immigrant workers; again Quentin spies on him. The following day Quentin pimps for Antoine in the men’s room of a highway rest stop. That proves an unfortunate mistake for Quentin as Antoine disappears after a bitter fight. The film follows their individual paths to Spain.
“Whether or not GIVE ME YOUR HAND is purposefully homoerotic is open for debate. The film is definitely sexually charged but, considering the twins’ age, that is more realistic than fantasy-prone. Vincent succeeds admirably in creating an atmospheric film but he cannot escape the underlying psychological motif that the twins bring to the screen. In spite of the inexorable bond between the two young men, their resentment of these emotional shackles is never far from the surface. 4.5 cats
“(GIVE ME YOUR HAND was screened as part of the New Directors/New Films festival sponsored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and MoMA.)“