REVIEW: Three-part ‘Proud’ is timely reminder of struggle for LGBTQ rights
Photo: Proud stars, from left, Benjamin Voisin and Sami Outalbali. Photo courtesy of Kino Lorber / Provided by press rep with permission.
Proud, Philippe Faucon’s powerful three-part cinematic event, details the struggles of being gay in France in the 1980s — a time when the laws were stacked against the LGBTQ community, and many relationships were driven into the shadows of secrecy. Then the narrative jumps years ahead to show the progress of the movement and some of the acceptance that came in society. Proud, which is technically a TV miniseries but plays like a movie in three parts, is now available virtually through Kino Marquee.
The first installment follows Victor (Benjamin Voisin), who is about to graduate high school and has decided to work on construction sites with his father, Charles (Frédéric Pierrot). One day, when taking a break, Charles sees Victor hooking up with Sélim (Sami Outalbali), and the father cannot believe his eyes. He thought his son was in a dedicated relationship with a girl, Aurélie (Lou Roy-Lecollinet), and he simply cannot accept that his son is gay.
Charles struggles with this newfound realization. Victor is his only son, and he and his wife, Martine (Emmanuelle Bercot), dote on him and hope the best for him. Charles is also a left-leaning political activist who prides himself on being progressive and voting for the socialist candidates, and therein lies the conundrum. He is politically liberal but refuses to allow those principles to play out in his family members’ actual lives.
Eventually Charles comes around a bit (Martine seems dedicated to her son, no matter what, but her part is somewhat underwritten), but the father simply cannot accept Victor’s new love interest: a much older Serge (Stanislas Nordey). That is the breaking point, and father and son eventually confront each other.
Cleverly and poignantly, Proud traces the many different elements of the gay-rights movement over the last 30-plus years in France. By having the narrative jump decade by decade in the second and third installments, a fuller picture of what it means to grow up in the LGBTQ community comes into focus.
The acting is strong throughout the two-and-a-half hours of content, in particular from Pierrot, who holds much anger, sympathy and confusion on his face. Nordey is also quite moving and interesting as Serge, a character who receives one of the largest arcs in the series. In fact, Pierrot and Nordey are the only two actors to play their parts over the course of three episodes. The younger characters change actors as the story jumps to the 1990s and 2013.
Proud is perfectly timed for Pride Month and will leave viewers with a real and effective snapshot of how progress has been made in the fight for LGBTQ rights and how much more ground the movement has to cover in the future. The characters are real and authentic, never fitting into a societal box easily. The series, under the careful hand of Faucon, features family members and friends living, struggling and fighting for their rights.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Proud (2018). Directed by Philippe Faucon. Starring Benjamin Voisin, Lou Roy-Lecollinet, Frédéric Pierrot, Sami Outalbali, Stanislas Nordey and Emmanuelle Bercot. Three episodes. Rating: 
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