Eastern Boys (Robin Campillo, 2013): France

Reviewed by Angela Yago. Viewed at the Metropolitan 4 theatre, Santa Barbara.

Eastern Boys was a pretty special movie, it’s a drama and had some pretty interesting twist to it. At first I thought it was a really weird film, I couldn’t get the hang of it and felt a bit uncomfortable during some scenes. But then it hit me, that’s the way life goes, like those boys in the film. Eastern Boys shows some of the reality, like how it is to be a refugee, not having your family with you, trying to survive in a country where you don’t have a job.

I saw this movie at the Metropolitan 4 theatre in Santa Barbara, Robin Campillo is the director of the movie and Olivier Rabourdin, Kirill Emelyanov and Daniil Vorobyov are the actors that play the most important roles in the movie. Olivier Rabourdin plays the role of the older man Daniel, he is also known for his role in Taken. Kirill Emelyanov plays the young boy Marek, and Daniil Vorobyov plays the “boss” of the group. 

The movie is about a group of young boys from Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and they have come to Paris, France to start new lives. They usually hang out outside the Gare du Nord train station and live at a hotel outside of Paris where there are other refugees from other countries. One day, a man named Daniel, follows one of the young boys, Marek, in to the train station. They meet under the stairs and the man starts asking questions. Marek knows what he wants, he wants to buy sex. Marek takes control of the conversation and says they should meet at Daniel’s place. When the day comes, Daniel is only expecting Marek, but that comes to a surprise when everyone from the group comes and not Marek. Daniel becomes a hostage in his own home when the young men starts drinking, dancing and playing around in his apartment. A couple of guys give Daniel a drink, with some kind of drug in it, to calm his nerves. When he then drinks it, he gets pretty dizzy. And that’s when the guys start working. They start taking all of his stuff, from his workout machines, computer, TV, to mirrors and big paintings. While all of this is going on, Marek shows up for a while. Daniel falls asleep and wakes up in an empty apartment, all he has left are his couches and a glass table that is crushed into pieces. Marek starts showing up after that night a couple of times a week, and their relationship grows stronger and stronger. 

I was impressed by the acting, from all of the main actors. Because there was some intense scenes in the movie that I can imagine were a bit awkward to shoot. They were strong in their acting and meant it. The movie was very deep and dark, it showed by the color choices, the lighting and the atmosphere. However, just because it was deep and dark, doesn’t mean it wasn’t beautiful. It felt real and it was powerful, it was a bunch of emotions wrapped up in one movie. And I love dramas, because they are deep and dark and beautiful at the same time.