MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Claude’ Examines the Dark Side of Love

Jean Beaudin’s “Being at Home With Claude” (at the Nuart through Sunday; at the New Beverly Oct. 27-28 with “Macho Dancer”) makes a harrowing exploration of the connection between love and death. In its black-and-white pre-credit sequence, the French-Canadian film comes across as a thriller but it’s actually an especially adroit filming of what is virtually a two-character play (written by Rene-Daniel DuBois, Jean-Francois Pichette and Gaston LePage).

Beaudin is amazing in his ability to sustain such a high-pitched intensity throughout; in the process he gets a pair of tour de force portrayals from Roy Dupuis and Jacques Godin.

At 11:30 on a Saturday night Yves (Dupuis), a handsome, muscular young hustler, calls the Montreal police to report the fatal throat-slashing of a young man named Claude (Pichette). At 12:45 a.m., he calls back to turn himself in, insisting that the police meet him in the chambers of a judge and telling them that he has already notified the press.

For much of the first half of the film, the Inspector (Godin), a seasoned, middle-aged cop, browbeats Yves--who wishes to disclose nothing of his motives--in an attempt to reconstruct the crime. In the second half, Yves, finally broken down, takes us on a journey into a veritable heart of darkness. All the while we wonder what will be revealed by the time the film ends.

Why did Yves kill Claude? (We witness the murder--or think we do.) Will we ever learn how Yves came by the set of keys that allows him entrance to the judge’s handsome, book-lined chamber?

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Although the filmmakers surely are not opposed to keeping us guessing, they are primarily interested in probing the sometimes overpowering nature of love rather than in generating suspense.

Until Claude shyly picks up Yves in a park, the hustler has kept his cool, admitting to being attracted to some johns while being repelled by others, yet always maintaining a professional detachment. Living on the edge, by nature and profession a loner, Yves has never known love until crossing paths with Claude, whom he has met only a month earlier. Claude’s love is apparently unconditional, as he is aware that Yves has a need to hustle beyond supporting himself. In any event, the filmmakers do not judge the way Yves makes a living.

“Being Home With Claude’s” long speeches are at times grueling, but their arduousness is integral to what the drama is expressing about the nature of emotion. Beaudin’s energy and pacing never falter, and the performances that he draws from Dupuis and Godin are so complete that it comes as a surprise to learn that they did not create them on stage.

Yves may be gay, but the concerns of “Being Home With Claude” (Times-rated Mature for a scene of lovemaking and adult themes) transcend sexual orientation.

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‘Being at Home With Claude’

Roy Dupuis: Yves

Jacques Godin: Inspector

Jean-Francois: Pichette Claude

Gaston LePage: Stenographer

A Strand Releasing presentation of a Les Productions du Cerf in association with the National Film Board of Canada. Director Jean Beaudin. Producer Louise Gendron. Adapted for the screen by Beaudin from the play by Rene Daniel DuBois, Jean-Francois Pichette, Gaston LePage. Cinematographer Thomas Vamos. Editor Andre Corriveau. Costumes Louise Jobin. Music Richard Gregoire. Art director Francois Seguin. Set designer Peter Stratford. Set decorator Frances Calder. Sound Michel Charron. In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 24 minutes.

Times-rated Mature (for a scene of lovemaking and adult themes).