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Awesome Movie

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I was only prepared to give this film just half a chance (which I'm glad I did), and bail out as soon as it got too "Euro" for me.Aside from one semi-painful and overly long techno-music / dancing scene early on, the film was perfectly palatable to this particular Mid-Western American's tastes.As others have noted, it starts off a bit slowly, and you're left wondering if there will ever be any dialogue.Turns out there is, and in multiple languages too. I loved the realism of the two initially only being able to communicate through their own broken English, instead of their native tongues (each being unfamiliar to the other).Really well acted by all, and beautifully filmed. It had a documentary feel to it, without the obnoxious jittery camera work that some directors think that look requires.There are some mildly graphic gay sex scenes, so if that's too much for you, consider yourself warned. It's hardly gratuitous though, and nothing you haven't seen between heterosexual characters in other movies over the last thirty years.The story could have used a bit more background on the primary characters, which is what prevented me from giving it an 8 or a 9. I can see how time constraints might have gotten in the way of the film maker's doing that however.Anyway, it's a breath of fresh air from the usual formula and is much recommended.

This French production was conducted with a tense cadence and the atmosphere was created was very sophisticated: the soundtrack, the cinematography, the plot development, the performance of the main couple, everything was orchestrated to drown the spectator in this controversial history. Frankly, Kirill Emelyanov was a great surprise! I got a little worried about certain issues in this movie, mainly the elitism that was the choice of privilege the view of Daniel (a successful man with economic power and that, in some way, dominates and subjugate Marek) about the events. This choice, if not looked critically, may seems like a xenophobic Manicheism (Daniel = the man who "salves" Marek from the degeneration/ Boss = the bad guy that preclude the "happiness of the lovers"). But, on the other hand, if we analyze the film without being get stuck by this romantic bourgeois superficiality, the movie can be very rich, extremely delicate and complex, because it allows to the spectator have several reflections about the issues of immigration, oppression and all the problematics the main relationship covers (precisely for the way it was conducted). The movie puts the spectator in a dilemma: the immediate impression is that the picture is about a fair and emancipator love story of an honorable middle-class man and a lost boy with no future. But, if we were not hurried, complicated issues arises: Daniel was egoist, he used from your supposed love (or caprice?) and from his power of French citizen to get what he wanted (his beautiful, young, mysterious and economically and emotionally fragile lad) and he didn't give a f**k for the other immigrants. What was at stake to Daniel was get back his young lover, but for the immigrants, what was at stake was something far more tragic and cruel, things which their lives and survival depended of. So, Eastern Boys can be read as a dark portrait of oppression and exploration from the French people to the immigrants. For me, Daniel "tamed" Marek so he could be inserted in a petty-bourgeois and imperialist lifestyle almost like a catechizing. Maybe, more than showing his love to Marek, with the end of the picture, Daniel showed him his power and became Marek a "good boy", dependent and subjugated to this power of his in order to Marek no longer be a "marginal" who "terrifies" the good French citizens. I though, even, this ending very gloomy, however, that's exactly why I thought it provocative and instigating.

I saw this at the Sydney Film Festival 2014. The film is engrossing, funny, moving and often very intense. The story concerns an older man, Daniel, who picks up a young male prostitute from Eastern Europe at a train station in France. The young male prostitute, Marek, is there illegally; living with a gang of other illegal Eastern Europeans, mainly young men, who survive through criminal activities, particularly stealing. They of course steal from Daniel at his home, when he gives Marek his address to hook up. The opening half hour that introduces us to the characters at the train station and the scene where Daniel has his property stolen while he is in the house is mesmerizing. As the film progresses, Daniel develops, extraordinarily, a relationship with the young Marek. Through this relationship we develop an understanding of Marek's background and the problems faced with illegal migrants; particularly in regard to being manipulated and susceptible to criminal activity in order to survive, as seen through Marek's relationship with his gang of young men. The performances are very good, particularly from Daniil Vorobyov, who plays 'Boss', the leader of the gang - he makes you believe the magnetism he holds over this group of young men. Recommended.

I had no expectations going into this film. And the first few minutes made me doubt my choice. But as the slow narrative starts to develop, it sucked me in and kept me captivated until the very end.A very realistic, raw image of illegal immigrants and a very sensitive story of deception, love and protection. I won't spoil the story, but if you are not homophobic and if you like movies such as Stephen Frears's "Dirty Pretty Things", this is a great cinematic experience. Hopefully this movie will get a wide enough audience and recognition.Go watch it with an open mind.