ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

French writer/director Andre Techine revisits the onset of the AIDS epidemic in mid-1980s Paris, with this compelling account of the impact made by a young man Manu (Johan Libereau), on the lives of police lieutenant Mehdi (Sami Bouajila), novelist Sara (Emmanuelle Beart), and their doctor friend Adrien (Michel Blanc). Fast-paced and impressively acted by its ensemble cast, The Witnesses acknowledges the reality of untimely death and celebrates the "miracle of being alive."

Classically divided into three chapters, The Witnesses begins in the summer of 1984, swiftly evoking an era of sexual freedom, openness and experimentation. Recent parents Mehdi and Sara both sleep with other partners, because in her words, "I need affairs otherwise I'd feel imprisoned, especially with a womaniser like you." And although the fiftysomething Adrien is besotted with the handsome youngster Manu, it's Mehdi who unexpectedly becomes the latter's lover. Their happiness is shattered however when Manu discovers he has contracted an untreatable new disease.

"BRISTLING WITH EMOTIONAL INTENSITY"

Drawing on motifs of flowing water and flying, The Witnesses is dynamically photographed by cinematographer Julien Hirsch, whose tracking shots reinforce the urgency of the story. Crucially, Techine refuses to define his characters solely by their sexual orientations. Nor does he judge their actions: Mehdi for example is a cop of North African origin, a devoted father, a passionate husband, and an individual who happens to fall for another man. Bristling with emotional intensity, this is far superior to earlier AIDS-related dramas such as the platitudinous Philadelphia.

The Witnesses is out in the UK on 19th October 2007.