DVD: Almost Nothing (Lifshitz, 2000)

So, I was very confused when I was searching for this film on the internet, because I knew that the title of the film actually translated to ‘Almost Nothing’ and yet the only thing coming up for my searches through Lifshitz’s filmography for the year 2000 was ‘Come Undone.’ I finally connected the dots and found out that the English translation that was tagged to this film was ‘Come Undone,’ which is a huge embarrassment to the film, and Mr. Lifshitz, and anyone gay, or anyone who appreciates queer cinema. Really, what does ‘coming undone’ have to do with anything in this film? Not to mention the trashy poster, which is slightly more obviously idiotic. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by this, and have to thank Joe from Fin de Cinema for his recent posts on Lifshitz that convinced me to seek out his work.

The film jumps around a bit between two different timelines in the narrative, going from Mathieu’s life before/during Cedric, to a more dire and empty bit of his life when his status with Cedric is mostly unknown. In the pre/during scenes, we witness Mathieu’s discovery of his sexuality, the development of his relationship with Cedric, and the gradual recognition of the nature of his relationship with Cedric by the three females that he lives with: his younger, bratty sister, his sick mother, and his aunt Annick (her relationship is never completely clear, but the official website states that Annick is Mathieu’s aunt). There is an air of sickness hovering over the film, especially in Mathieu’s mom and in his ‘present’ scenes of depression. The sense of mortality, seemingly brought on by loneliness/lovelessness, causes the film to have a significantly morose weight, particularly in the final quarter of the film. The prospect that Matheiu revealing his sexuality will worsen his mother’s condition comes between them and delays, or even extinguishes, the possibility of an honest and loving relationship between them. It’s one of the most well realized depictions of the tolls that coming out can have on someone’s relationship with another that I’ve seen in a film.

While the film feels like a pretty conventional love story throughout, even considering its jumpy structure, it leaves an impact because of the well-drawn characters and quietly droll conclusion. The title of the film (the actual title, that is) references the cause of the rupture in Mathieu and Cedric’s relationship, pertaining to Cedric’s illusion that when he cheated on Mathieu once, it meant nothing. The film, though, is more than about a break-up, but about the gargantuan impact that particular people can have on your emotional and mental state, and the fine line that separates genuine happiness and utter despair.