Ma vraie vie à Rouen
Encyclopedia
Ma vraie vie à Rouen is a 2002 movie by French
directors Olivier Ducastel
and Jacques Martineau
, which tracks a year in the life of a teenage figure skater
in a quasi-documentary, video diary style. It was released in 2003 in the USA under the title of My Life on Ice.
), who lives in Rouen
with his mother and grandmother and intends to take part in the national figure skating championship. For his 16th birthday, his grandmother gives him a digital camcorder as a present, which he starts to use immediately (supplying the introductory scenes of the movie).
Etienne films anything and everything around him — his family, his teacher Laurent (Jonathan Zaccaï), Ludovic (Lucas Bonnifait), his best friend, himself figure skating, the sea, steep cliffs. As for Ludovic and his geography teacher, it soon becomes apparent that his obsession with them is grounded in more than just artistic pursuits. Etienne's burgeoning homosexual tendencies become more and more clear both to him and the audience over the course of the movie.
Even though Etienne is determined to make this year "the year of love", the year when everything turns around for him, things do not go as well as anticipated. He makes a blunder in his figure skating performance and only achieves second place. And when he starts, very carefully, to talk to Ludovic about the possibility of two men being in love, Ludovic runs away.
In the final minutes of the film, the purpose of Etienne's video diary gets clear: Feeling he has failed in what he set out to do and being deeply hurt by Ludovic's resentment, Etienne decides to jump from the cliff and leave the camcorder (which he sets up to film his suicide) behind to explain to his family what he went through.
Luckily, a stranger walks by at that moment and notices the boy close to the cliff and his camera nearby. The final scene shows the stranger and Etienne in bed after sex, with Etienne seeming truly happy for the first time.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
directors Olivier Ducastel
Olivier Ducastel
Olivier Ducastel is a French film director, screenwriter and sound editor who currently works in collaboration with partner Jacques Martineau.- Biography :...
and Jacques Martineau
Jacques Martineau
Jacques Martineau is a French film director and screenwriter who works in collaboration with partner Olivier Ducastel.- Biography :...
, which tracks a year in the life of a teenage figure skater
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
in a quasi-documentary, video diary style. It was released in 2003 in the USA under the title of My Life on Ice.
Plot
The film centers on Etienne (Jimmy TavaresJimmy Tavares
Jimmy Tavares is a French figure skater and actor. He starred in the 2002 film Ma vraie vie à Rouen . In his debut film role, Tavares plays the character of Etienne, a teenager who lives in Rouen, France and is training to take part in the French national figure skating championship...
), who lives in Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
with his mother and grandmother and intends to take part in the national figure skating championship. For his 16th birthday, his grandmother gives him a digital camcorder as a present, which he starts to use immediately (supplying the introductory scenes of the movie).
Etienne films anything and everything around him — his family, his teacher Laurent (Jonathan Zaccaï), Ludovic (Lucas Bonnifait), his best friend, himself figure skating, the sea, steep cliffs. As for Ludovic and his geography teacher, it soon becomes apparent that his obsession with them is grounded in more than just artistic pursuits. Etienne's burgeoning homosexual tendencies become more and more clear both to him and the audience over the course of the movie.
Even though Etienne is determined to make this year "the year of love", the year when everything turns around for him, things do not go as well as anticipated. He makes a blunder in his figure skating performance and only achieves second place. And when he starts, very carefully, to talk to Ludovic about the possibility of two men being in love, Ludovic runs away.
In the final minutes of the film, the purpose of Etienne's video diary gets clear: Feeling he has failed in what he set out to do and being deeply hurt by Ludovic's resentment, Etienne decides to jump from the cliff and leave the camcorder (which he sets up to film his suicide) behind to explain to his family what he went through.
Luckily, a stranger walks by at that moment and notices the boy close to the cliff and his camera nearby. The final scene shows the stranger and Etienne in bed after sex, with Etienne seeming truly happy for the first time.
Cast
- Jimmy TavaresJimmy TavaresJimmy Tavares is a French figure skater and actor. He starred in the 2002 film Ma vraie vie à Rouen . In his debut film role, Tavares plays the character of Etienne, a teenager who lives in Rouen, France and is training to take part in the French national figure skating championship...
as Étienne - Ariane AscarideAriane AscarideAriane Ascaride is a French actress and screenwriter. She has appeared in such films as Marius et Jeannette , Ma vraie vie à Rouen and À la place du coeur...
as Caroline, Étienne's mother - Jonathan Zaccaï as Laurent, Étienne's teacher and his mother's boyfriend
- Hélène Surgère as Étienne's Grandmother
- Lucas Bonnifait as Ludovic, Étienne's best friend
- Hanako Bron as Vanessa, Ludovic's girlfriend
- Frédéric Gorny as the Young Man at the cliff