93. Sauvage; movie review

SAUVAGE
Cert 18
97 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong sex, drugs misuse

Nobody wants to live on the streets but after a while, it becomes incredibly difficult to return to what most us would perceive as normality.
Why? Because as crazy as it seems, fear of the unknown.
Camille Vidal-Naquet's subject, Léo (Félix Maritaud), is a gay prostitute who initially searches for love in a horribly tough environment of exploitation and violence.
By love, I don't necessarily mean a relationship - genuine hugs are so seldom part of his life that he craves them too.
Léo lacks the street wisdom needed to stay safe while selling his body.
Consequently, he faces violence but also the physical deterioration which comes with not looking after himself.
Sauvage is a very raw movie. Its scenes of sex and violence (and often a combination of the two) are shocking and in one case prompted Mrs W and me to shield our eyes from the screen.
But they are not gratuitous. This is a story the sordid and dangerous existence Léo leads and so it has its place, albeit occasionally stomach-churning.
Indeed, his downward spiral is at the very heart of Sauvage.
The film also gives an insight into the competitive nature of male prostitution - indeed, violence erupts in a row over whether oral sex should be offered for as cheap as €5.
And it looks into the code of being a sex worker. For example, Léo's hope for love (Éric Bernard) refuses to kiss a client and is angry that Léo does.
Sauvage enters a murky world which will touch very few of us so it is difficult to know how realistic it is.
But I am very aware of the homeless and their chaotic existence on the streets and how addiction addles priorities.
On those counts, Vidal Naquet is pinpoint accurate so I would expect he is also on the mark with regard to male prostitution.

Reasons to watch: Realistic insight into life on the streets
Reasons to avoid: Its sex scenes are a bit too much (one, in particular).

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Out of the roughly 20,000 prostitutes working in France, up to 15 percent are men. Most cater to gay men and only a small number of the prostitutes accept women as clients.

The final word: Camille Vidal-Naquet: "I think I was careful not to pass a moral judgment. I neither condemn nor glorify anything. I let the people watching make their own judgment. I’m here to make visible these invisibles."

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