''Sorry Angel'' (french: Plaire, aimer et courir vite) is a 2018 French
romantic drama
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
film directed by
Christophe Honoré. It was selected to compete for the
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
2018 Cannes Film Festival
The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett acted as President of the Jury. The Japanese film '' Shoplifters'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d'Or.
Asghar Farhadi's psyc ...
.
Plot
Set in 1993, Jacques (Pierre Deladonchamps) is a 39-year-old gay author living and working in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
. He is a part-time, albeit inattentive, father to his young son Loulou, who stays with him every other night. Loulou is accustomed to his father's bouts of self-indulgent melancholy as well as his manic appreciation for the arts and his string of young lovers. At the same time, Jacques is in the process of coming to terms with his health's steady decline due to
AIDS, which is simultaneously and severely affecting his ex-lover Marco. When Marco is rejected by his lover Thierry and comes to stay with Jacques, the two discuss again their intentions to commit suicide before they can be claimed by the disease. Jacques lives on the floor below his good friend Mathieu (Denis Podalydès), an older gay man and newspaper editor who regular caters to Jacques's flamboyant episodes.
In the meantime, Jacques meets 22-year-old Arthur (Vincent Lacoste), a student and camp counselor, during a work event in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...
. Arthur is in the throes of a relatively newfound homosexual lifestyle, and he finds himself disenchanted by his generation's rejection of literature and shame of sex; for these reasons, he is drawn to Jacques and his intellectualism. Jacques understands his own reticence to commit to a proper relationship because of a current fling with the young Jean-Marie, and because of his AIDS, but finds himself immensely interested in Arthur. Despite Jacques's intentions to keep things platonic, the two sleep together a few times before Jacques returns home to Paris.
As Jacques's AIDS worsens—not a problem for Arthur, who accepts him wholeheartedly—Arthur comes to visit, during which Jacques admits that he has attempted to reject Arthur because he refuses to die stricken by grief that a new love must be over too soon. Arthur appreciates Jacques's lyrical philosophies but cannot accept that he must let Jacques go—or that Jacques could truly want him to. The two spend an evening with Mathieu that ends with Arthur's proclamation that the two "could make a good life together", eventually returning to Brittany to inform his friends he is moving to Paris to be with Jacques.
Arthur waits for Jacques to return his calls in order to finalise their plans, completely unaware that he is in the midst of organising his suicide. Jacques brings his life's diaries to Mathieu and says his goodbyes, never returning Arthur's final call.
Cast
*
Pierre Deladonchamps
Pierre Deladonchamps (born 1 June 1978) is a French actor. He is known for starring in the thriller film ''Stranger by the Lake'' (2013), for which he won the César Award for Most Promising Actor. He went on to receive a nomination for the Cé ...
as Jacques Tondelli
*
Vincent Lacoste
Vincent Lacoste (born 3 July 1993) is a French actor. He began his acting career at the age of fifteen, playing the lead role of Hervé in the film '' The French Kissers''. The role won him the Lumières Award for Most Promising Actor and a nom ...
as Arthur Prigent
*
Denis Podalydès
Denis Podalydès (born 22 April 1963) is a French actor and scriptwriter of Greek descent. Podalydès has appeared in more than 140 films and television shows since 1989. He starred in '' The Officers' Ward'', which was entered into the 2001 Ca ...
as Matthieu
* Quentin Thébault as Jean-Marie
* Sophie Letourneur as Isabelle
* Thomas Gonzalez as Marco
* Tristan Farge as Louis 'Loulou'
Awards
The film was awarded the
Louis Delluc Prize The Louis Delluc Prize (french: Prix Louis-Delluc ) is a French film award presented annually since 1937. The award is bestowed to the Best Film and Best First Film of the year on the second week of each December. The jury is composed of 20 members, ...
for Best Film in 2018.
"Le film ''Plaire, aimer et courir vite'' de Christophe Honoré remporte le prix Louis Delluc 2018"
''Le Monde'', 12 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorry Angel
2018 films
2018 romantic drama films
2018 LGBT-related films
2010s French-language films
Films directed by Christophe Honoré
Films set in 1993
Films set in Paris
Films shot in Amsterdam
Films shot in Paris
French LGBT-related films
French romantic drama films
Gay-related films
HIV/AIDS in French films
LGBT-related romantic drama films
2010s French films