Frameline47: Le Beau Mec

  • A guy in leather pants takes off his red t-shirt as he looks himself in the mirror

Lost for decades before a print was discovered in an Alabama garage, Le beau mec charts its titular heartthrob (Karl Forest) through a dreamscape of erotic fantasy—from outdoor exploits with fellow soldiers, twink cruising at the gym, onstage self-pleasuring at a cabaret, to a labyrinthine fuckfest at a Parisian fetish club. As the titular ‘handsome guy,’ Forest (also seen in Philippe Vallois’ queer classic Johan) plays Jean-Paul Doux — a Narcissus-like French hustler with a brutish, sculpted exterior. Doux narrates his own sexual history alongside ruminations on male beauty (not least of which his own) and desire.

Legendary for both its onscreen heat and its behind-the-scenes history, Le beau mec notably featured uncredited, but unmistakable contributions from two of director Potts’ paramours: choreography by dancer Rudolf Nureyev and camerawork by Oscar-winning cinematographer Néstor Almendros (Days of HeavenThe Blue Lagoon). With additional photography by François About (Equation to an Unknown), Le beau mec will screen in a dazzling new 4K restoration by IndieCollect in collaboration with Gerald Herman and the Estate of Wallace Potts.

This film has a content advisory. For more information, please click here.

Preceded by:

Big Sur Gay Porn
Directed by Ryan A. White, 2023, USA, 12 mins.
Cult filmmaker Tom DeSimone (Reform School Girls; Erotikus: A History of the Gay Movie) revisits the production of a lost gay film and resurrects youthful adventures on the California coast. From the creators of Raw! Uncut! Video! (Frameline45).


Presented as part of Frameline47 International Film Festival.

Runtime
1h 10m
Year
1979
Director
Wallace Potts
Country
France
Language
French & English
First Showing
June 22, 2023