THE STORY – Follows a 16-year-old boy who defies his bourgeois family’s expectations by starting a masonry apprenticeship where he meets a charismatic Ukrainian colleague who shakes up his world.
THE CAST – Eloy Pohu, Maksym Slivinskyi, Pierfrancesco Favino & Élodie Bouchez
THE TEAM – Robin Campillo (Director/Writer), Laurent Cantet & Gilles Marchand (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 102 Minutes
Auteur theory dictates that a singular creative voice is responsible for a film. This is something that “Enzo” recognizes and with which it attempts to make peace in its opening credits. It’s introduced as “a film by Laurent Cantet, directed by Robin Campillo.” “Enzo” is a film about the first flourishes of teenage rebellion and discovery, but it has also become a tribute out of necessity. Cantet, the writer-director of 2008 Palme d’Or winner “The Class,” succumbed to cancer just a few months before the shoot for “Enzo” began. Campillo co-wrote the script with Cantet and was ideally placed to take over the director’s chair. The resulting film is a touching and restrained blend of the two men’s sensibilities, combining Cantet’s exploration of the restrictions of class with Campillo’s down-to-earth portrayal of queer lives.
It may be that refusal of ostentatiousness that kept “Enzo” out of the Main Competition at Cannes this year (It opened the non-competitive Director’s Fortnight strand instead). It may also be because it’s a film defined by the presence of many great directors in its credits; among its producers are the likes of Jacques Audiard (who made a splash last year with “Emilia Pérez“) and the Dardenne brothers (who return to the Competition themselves this year with “Jeunes Mères”). Their previous works (Think Palme d’Or winners “Dheepan” or “The Child”) are infused with a conflict between working-class and middle-class lives that offers a frisson on top of everything else the narrative brings. The film to which “Enzo” will inevitably be compared is Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name” as they share several themes and plot points. However, Guadagnino’s tale of a teenager from a wealthy family finding first love in Tuscany felt like an easy ride, with its unworried, unhurried denizens never needing to consider their place in a social hierarchy before exploring their desires. The titular character is more buff than Timothée Chalamet in Guadagnino’s film and needs to support the massive chip on his shoulder.
Enzo is played by Eloy Pohu, a young actor of such visible talent that it’s still astonishing to find this is his debut film performance. It’s apt, though, because Enzo himself is possessed of a great deal of ability, perhaps too much. “Enzo” opens on a building site where Enzo is working as an apprentice. Almost immediately, he’s admonished by his supervisor, Corelli (Philippe Petit), for sloppy work. When Enzo and Corelli meet the former’s father (Pierfranceso Favino) and mother (Élodie Bouchez, her casting a nod to her role in Téchiné’s “Wild Reeds”) to discuss his work, Corelli is bowled over to find Enzo comes from money, enough to buy a villa with a pool. This lifestyle has given Enzo every chance to develop his talents. He’s a bright student and a keen artist, leaving everyone wondering why he’s choosing to work humbly on a construction site instead. “Enzo” is a portrait of how people react when someone tries to blur the lines of class distinction. Enzo can do anything he wants in this world; he chooses construction simply because it’s not what he’s used to. It’s a point of expression towards the elucidation of his deeper feelings.
Among Enzo’s co-workers on the building site are two Ukrainian immigrants, Miroslav (Vladislav Holyk) and Vlad (Maksim Slivinskyi). After initial banter at the new kid’s expense, the pair grow fond of Enzo, taking him under their wing and bringing him socializing. However, Enzo’s feelings go a bit deeper. As he continues his construction work, to the detriment of his social and family life, his increasing antagonism with his family propels him more and more towards the handsome Vlad. The dynamic between the pair is the lynchpin for “Enzo,” their interactions are defined by unspoken desires and energized by unclear motivations. When Vlad shows Enzo kindness, whether loaning him a shirt or letting him stay at his place, Enzo feels a desire that may not be reciprocated. Slivinskyi’s performance is a masterful tightrope walk between flirtation and banter, never offering poor Enzo clarity about where he stands. Campillo puts us in Enzo’s desirous mindset by forever keeping the characters in the center of the wide frame, even when the luxurious surrounds of Enzo’s family’s villa could take attention away. Close-ups hum with sexual tension, and DoP Jeanne Lapoirie shoots in the sticky shade of the south of France, giving “Enzo” the same sensuous warmth she brought to Breillat’s “Last Summer” and Corsini’s “Summertime.”
In “Enzo,” the air bristles with tensions beyond the sexual. As Enzo reconciles himself to his true feelings, his existing relationships are tested. His would-be girlfriend Amina (Malou Khebizi) finds him becoming distant, as do Enzo’s father and brother (Nathan Japy). Enzo’s preconceptions are assaulted on all fronts; ideas of masculinity continue to be tested throughout his journey. His mother admits she makes more than his father, Victor’s friend group is comprised of all sexes and sexualities, and that hunky older Ukrainian man from the job site just gets more attractive. The ever-lingering possibility of Vlad being recalled to fight the Russians hovers over the films, locating it very specifically. It’s a less cheery film than “Call Me By Your Name,” even though that film’s ’80s setting was a more perilous time for gay people. “Enzo” is more reflective of its contemporary concerns, with Campillo and Cantet’s script pulling Enzo in so many directions, caught between desire and practicality with no easy way out.
It is a credit to the sweet-faced Pohu that “Enzo” keeps the audience on side with its characters’ woes, even when the third act threatens to lose their sympathies. As Enzo retreats into himself and his behavior becomes more erratic, one must wonder why he goes to these dark places when his family is clearly keen to see him happy. They may want certain things for him, but it seems unlikely his sexuality would be a problem. Favino is a terrific paternal contradiction, so determined to see his son do well that he can’t see that he’s miserable. The strength of his performance underlines how little Bouchez gets to do by comparison and how underwritten Japy’s Victor is. This is especially glaring when a last-act attempt at fraternal conflict rings hollow. Thankfully, Campillo manages to bring things around with an epilogue that sees Enzo get the things he may not have wanted but needed, namely reassurance and validation. The final moments are the most direct lift from “Call Me by Your Name,” but they work better by refusing to offer easy answers. By the end of “Enzo,” many possibilities are going out, but you feel more optimistic for him than he might even for himself.
