Review: That Old Dream That Moves

Alain Guiraudie supplies a heady mix of social realism and intensely muted sexual desire.

That Old Dream That Moves
Photo: K. Productions

Alain Guiraudie supplies a heady mix of social realism and intensely muted sexual desire throughout That Old Dreams That Moves, a tale of queer lust set against a greasy metallic environment that brings to mind Kenneth Anger’s Kustom Kar Kommandos. A man arrives at a factory in order to fix a piece of machinery ready for transport, but the function of the machine remains as mysterious as the subtext for the protagonist’s withered gaze. The factory’s half dozen workers wander aimlessly around, bemoaning their future unemployment until Guiraudie’s mechanic falls for his boss, who is either a cock tease or too afraid of the mechanic’s willing, intimidating libido. As subtly erotic as it is uncompromising and eccentric, Guiraudie’s gem seemingly yet inconspicuously shatters its own myths. The generational gap that exists between two gay men becomes a kind of harmonic endgame while the fix-it man’s relationship to his boss evokes all sorts of issues related to misplaced pride and opportunism in the face of weakness.

Score: 
 Cast: Jean-Marie Combelles, Pierre Louis-Calixte, Jean-Claude Monteil  Director: Alain Guiraudie  Screenwriter: Alain Guiraudie  Running Time: 50 min  Rating: NR  Year: 2001

Ed Gonzalez

Ed Gonzalez is the co-founder of Slant Magazine. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.