Flesh and Fuel
Du fioul dans les artères
Awarded the inaugural Queer Palm Revelation award at Cannes, this swooning feature debut trails the deepening romantic spark that forms between two long-haul truckers.
Due to the nature of their work, Étienne and Bartosz are ships – or semitrailers – in the night. And while the Frenchman and the Pole both drive trucks carrying all manner of goods across Europe, they couldn’t be more different: whereas reticent Étienne has been hardened by his experiences, gregarious Bartosz retains his zest for life despite its hardships. What was meant to be a one-off hook-up by the side of the road transforms into a profound, continent-spanning romance.
There’s no dearth of works tackling the difficult pursuit of queer love, but Pierre Le Gall’s indelible answer to God’s Own Country (MIFF 2017) and Brief Encounter enriches its tale of unexpected connection by implicating clashes of culture and economy and exploring questions of self-acceptance, ambition and blue-collar alienation. Bolstered by Antoine Cormier’s sensitive lensing and Paul Sabin’s affecting score, actors Alexis Manenti and Julian Świeżewski enthral as the film’s central couple, magnetically portraying their chemistry and their distinct responses to this tricky relationship. Flesh and Fuel shows how love can bloom in the most unlikely of places, so long as we’re willing to take a different route.
“Tender [and] hopeful … In what could have been another existential and very French tale of impossible love, Le Gall has boldly chosen to offer up the possibility of redemption.” – The Hollywood Reporter
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