Watch The String For Free

Sadly Over-hyped

Expected more

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Social and religious contradictions, gay/lesbian secrecy, and all this in an Islamic/Arab country - plenty of intriguing stuff to issue from and complete with. True, it is difficult to fit it all in a film less than 1.5 hours, and that is probably the reason why the film seemed a lightweight walk over the issues, with the director's apparent desire of being brave and progressive, but not too provoking in showing love and affection (Mehdi Ben Attia comes from Tunisia where the film is shot). The second half or so is less interesting and even more perfunctory, and the ending is rather odd, characteristic to Bollywood films rather than French creations.The aged Claudia Cardinale has somehow lost her charm, and all other performers did not impress me much; I did not fix them in my memory, and their accomplishments did not make me look for films with their presence...Thus, just an average film to me, 1-2 additional points for boldness and pleasant Tunesian scenes - not often shown in films widely available in the Western world. As for gay films, you might want to see respective German and Scandinavian films with meaty approach.

The film was all right, but the soundtrack was so horrible that it ruined so many scenes. The whole string thing didn't make much sense, they could have skipped it, although it did show the progress that the character made throughout the movie. I thought that Malik's father's appearances were very odd at times, for example when he was talking to Malik's mother about his (Malik's) homosexuality. The ending was also very odd, since Malik and Bilal were together and Siryne and Leila were together, it didn't make much sense that Malik and Siryne got married. It would have made much more sense had they just been parents together, but nothing more. It wasn't like they were hiding their homosexuality, so the marriage didn't have any obvious reason.The acting was terrific, though. I loved Malik's mother, she was a wonderful character and Claudia Cardinale portrayed her wonderfully. I loved Malik and Bilal's relationship but, again, I don't understand why Malik had to get married. I also loved Siryne and Leila's relationship, it wasn't the most typical relationship, and I liked that. Siryne's father, even though he merely appeared in one small scene, was wonderful and very well portrayed.

For this film, directed and written by Mehdi Ben Attia does that very thing. It doesn't preach a message, it doesn't force people to sacrifice their lives or dignities. It just tells a story of two men who fall in love and live happily ever after. Why not? Why can't there be such films? My hat is off to those responsible for making this happen. Writers, director and a wonderful cast.And how wonderful to see Claudia Cardinale again. Still with those beautiful eyes and looking smashing as the mother of one of the boys who fall in love. She also gets to go through all the moments that most mothers go through in finding out their son is gay. Cardinale is terrific. As her gay son, Atonin Stahly, too, is wonderful. He didn't miss a beat in this. From the frustrated son coming home to dealing with a possessive mother to falling in love. As his love interest, Salim Kechiouche seems perfectly fitted for the role. A beautiful, sensitive young man bringing much passion into his role. At first you feel something is going to happen. Something will go wrong. This is too beautiful to last. As in most gay love stories, it usually does. But in this is doesn't. The ending is so beautiful and touching, you want to stand up and cheer. Thanks for a lovely romantic love story between two men.

This is actually a very good film. the plot-line is intelligent and interesting; it is well acted, directed, and filmed. Its major flaw is that, like most gay oriented films, the major characters are all beautiful. This film deals with real social problems that should be able to move gay audiences particularly, but also a straight public. Why, then, must the action be transported to the realm of the beautiful people, whom the majority of the audience can envy and even empathize with to some extent, but somehow not quite identify with? Having the action take place in beautiful surroundings among beautiful people is, of course, not limited to films that treat gay issues. But it seems to be endemic in films with gay social content, and in that sense, it is particularly harmful. What gay audiences need to see, and what straight people interested in gay issues also need to see, are gay social issues treated as taking place among average looking people in average looking surroundings. These are everyday issues touching the lives of the large majority of gay people. They are not abstractions; they are painful realities. This is no place for physical idealization. The issues are too serious for this type of useless, distracting decoration.