There are a couple of scenes in this French drama where you might almost think that the film-makers have deepfaked the young Jean-Paul Belmondo back on to the screen, and that AI replicas in film – one of the flashpoints of the Hollywood actors’ strike – has already come to pass. Not so fast. The actor we’re watching is his grandson, Victor Belmondo, and in closeup, at certain angles, the resemblance really is uncanny: that nose (though a little less lopsided) and the pillowy lips arranged to smouldering leading-man effect.
Belmondo appears in a supporting role in a tasteful literary adaptation that has impeccable manners, based on a bestselling autobiographical novel by Philippe Besson (dubbed the “French Brokeback Mountain” when it was translated into English). The story follows famous novelist Stéphane Belcourt (played by Guillaume de Tonquédec) as he returns to his humdrum home town for the first time in 35 years. Growing up gay in provincial France, Stéphane felt different and couldn’t wait to escape. Now he’s back, being paid by a luxury cognac brand to speak at a black tie dinner. The joke is that Stéphane doesn’t drink; he’s too controlled for that, a little uptight even.
