When oil spills upon a wet surface, the opposing two fluids clash and when reflected in the sunlight a radiant iridescent glow is produced. Any parking lot, truckstop, or industrial sectors of our world are filled with these subtle moments of beauty. An interaction between two forces that unveil an elegance in the most innocuous of places. You just have to be observant enough to spot it. A subject that Pierre le Gall brilliantly displays in his feature debut Du Fioul dans les artères (Flesh and Fuel).
Selected as a special screening at this year Semaine Del La Critique, it follows a chance encounter at a truckstop cruising spot in France, leading to a genuine and palpable long-distance relationship between two long haul truck drivers. Fuelled by the handsomely-crafted lead performances of Alexis Manenti as Etienne and Julian Świeżewski as Bartosz. Flesh and Fuel humanizes a profession that is taken for granted in the modern world as it its headlight beams illuminate the beauty and love that can be found in unlikeliest of places.
Writers le Gall, Camille Perton and Martin Drouot, emotionally grease us up and let our feelings ride like the wind, offering raw character portraits of two men trying to sustain their love despite their working conditions. There’s a sweet charm that charging the depiction on this irresistible relationship. It is heartfelt and tender, yes, but also sexy and sublime. Etienne and Bartosz are not your typical “gay movie” male leads. They feel and look like real people with real struggles, insecurities and real bodies. There’s a moment in which Etienne removes a back brace and lets his belly loose. Bartosz has a bald spot and when not in intimate moments, he is seen putting his hat back on.
The film is not concerned with coming out or the danger of queer love in a work field such as this. Instead it is a film about finding love, while the screenplay subverts expectations, giving us a story that hums like a dream.
Manenti gives a subtle yet powerful performance, imbuing Etienne with a mysterious quality. A tenderness emerges in a glance or a touch, allowing us a glimpse beneath his protective outer shell. Świeżewski’s Bartosz is charming and funny, providing a wonderful foil to Etienne’s more closed-off exterior. As the sparks fly, the chemistry between these two left me grinning throughout.
Antoine Cormier’s industrial cinematography is stunning, drawing us to see things from another perspective. With a vibrant color palette, Cormier brings a sense of intimacy to the confines of truck cab interior, opening things up in the woods behind a truck stop, and lingering on the smokestacks and cacophony of industrial plants.
Flesh and fuel is a dreamy debut feature from le Gall. Think Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country fused with Andrew Haigh’s Weekend, resulting in a gay trucker fantasy realized that convinces us to chase the ones we love and them hold tight.
By Andrew Pankey