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June 1984 to June 1985, from happy days to war to summer's return. A middle-aged doctor in Paris, Adrien, meets Manu, a young gay man from the provinces who lives with his sister, an opera singer. Adrien likes Manu, loves him even, in a Platonic relationship. Sarah, a writer, and Mehdi, a vice-squad cop, have an infant. Sarah discovers she has no taste for parenthood. Adrien bring Manu to Sarah's country cabin where Mehdi saves Manu from drowning. Back in Paris, an affair begins as a plague descends on Parisian gays. There are tests, illness, anger, relief, separations, and death. A year later, these friends meet...
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again at the summer place. They are witnesses to how happiness has changed.
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Legendary French film director André Téchiné goes back to 1980s Paris in the tender, heartbreaking THE WITNESSES. Emmanuelle Beart (8 WOMEN) stars as Sarah, a children's book author who has just had her first child with husband Mehdi (Sami Bouajila), a vice cop. Sarah's doctor and close friend, Adrien (Michel Blanc), has fallen in love with the much younger Manu (Johan Libéreau), who enjoys being taken care of by the doctor but prefers a platonic relationship--and instead falls hard for Mehdi. Mehdi and Manu start a torrid sexual affair, but when Manu becomes ill with a mysterious disease, the complex entangl...
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ement between the four protagonists--as well as Sandra (Constance Dallé), a prostitute who befriends Manu, and Julie (Julie Deaprdieu), Manu's sister who wants to become an opera star--threatens to tear everything apart. Beart is outstanding as Sarah, a strong, independent woman who discovers while writing her first adult novel that she is not cut out to be a mother. Meanwhile, Adrien wants to be more than just a father figure to Manu. Sarah actually wants both she and Mehdi to have lovers, as long as they always come home to each other and don't fall in love with someone else--which becomes more complicated in these changing times. Téchiné (CHANGING TIMES, SCENE OF THE CRIME) sets THE WITNESSES at the very beginnings of the AIDS crisis in Paris, examining its effects on love, family, and friendship. The smart script, written with Laurent Guyot and Viviane Zingg, treats the subject with honesty and care. Philippe Sarde's minimalist score enhances the drama; the soundtrack also includes several arias and three songs by French pop duo Les Rita Mitsouko.
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De 20-jarige Manu arriveert in Parijs om een baan te zoeken. Hij trekt tijdelijk in bij zijn zus die een slonzig hotel woont en studeert om opera-zangeres te worden. Op een nacht ontmoet Manu de 50-jarige, extroverte, homoseksuele arts Adrien met wie hij vriendschap sluit. Adrien introduceert Manu aan zijn vriendenkring en neemt hem mee op een bootreisje met een pasgetrouwd koppel: Mehdi en Sarah. Na de introductie van Manu in de levens van de Parijzenaars zal voor hen niets meer hetzelfde zijn.