REVIEW - EASTERN BOYS

I couldn't tell you what I was expecting from Robin Campillo's Eastern Boys, but I wasn't expecting this. Although conventional in style and content, the film is a disarming blend of thriller and romance, while never succumbing to clear genre specifications in either case. Daniel tours Paris' Gare du Nord in search of one of those eastern boys, the immigrants willing to service his needs and wants in exchange for enough euros to bide their time until the next sucker drops past the station. At least, that's what he, not in disrespect but in naivety, thinks. He's the sucker, as his intended dalliance with the Ukrainian Marek rapidly becomes something much more damaging, and much more threatening. Contained within is less a romance than a study of how vulnerable human beings, leading ostensibly stable existences but on the brink of desperation, seek comfort and help in one another, smartly if selfishly identifying a similar helplessness in their targets. How Daniel and Marek manipulate the other's circumstances to benefit their own is especially intriguing due to the success with which they conceal their motives, and how deep-seated these motives may be. Control and power are sought by both, indeed by all the major figures in Campillo's film, but also love and acceptance. These are issues which define us all, and Campillo is wise to imply that they remain unresolved even at the film's close, despite an intelligent, rather positive conclusion. And if the final act relies heavily on traditional thriller techniques, it does so smoothly and sparingly, and always in service of the story. And, having been riveted to said story for two hours, I can still attest that I wasn't expecting any of that.