Sauvage (Camille Vidal-Naquet, 2018)

A filmic portrait of a young man on the margins of society, Sauvage is precisely the kind of misguided liberal exercise that betrays a condescending attitude toward its subject under the guise of care. From its lackluster realist approach, which is clearly meant to signal raw, poetic immediacy but feels clumsy and second-hand, to its peripatetic, ambling plotline, Sauvage is a puppet show for the deeply concerned, an opportunity for a certain class of filmgoer to flex his or her empathy muscles on a character who has been constructed, from the top down, as a suitable victim.

Leo (Félix Maritaud) is a 23-year-old gay streetwalker with virtually no concern for his well-being. He lives as though tomorrow will never come, placing himself in harm's way with alarming frequency. He is a sensitive soul, however, nursing a hopeless crush on his friend and fellow hustler Ahd (Éric Bernard), who is "gay for pay" but prefers women in his personal life. Ahd's friendship with Leo becomes increasingly strained, eventually resulting in violence. 

But Vidal-Naquet wants us to understand that Leo is too soft and romantic for the streets. He kisses clients, much to Ahd's disgust. He sometimes holds them tenderly. The guy just wants someone to give a shit about him, and as if he weren't completely coded as a pathetic punching bag, he also has a really bad cough that will be narratively significant later. (Shades of La bohème...) Living on the street and turning tricks is literally killing this poor kid.

I found myself wondering what actual sex workers would make of Sauvage. The film plays like a high school "scared straight" picture, warning kids what happens if you smoke crack or have sex for money. But obviously Leo's situation is only one facet of the sex industry, one dutifully sensationalized for political gain by "reform-minded" liberals who want to exact Foucaultian discipline over the bodies in question. This isn't to say there are no "Leos" out there, but Sauvage makes the case that they not only need rescuing, but are practically beyond help. So even from its own dubious point of view, the film comes away with little more than a tsk-tsk and a sad shake of the head.