- Format: PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Millivres
- DVD Release Date: 6 Sep 2004
- Run Time: 92 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0002MGZ3C
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
43,601 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
- #9 in Film & TV > Gay & Lesbian > Millivres Multimedia
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Bishop Bilodeau arrives at a prison to hear the confession of a dying man, Simon Doucet. Only to find out that though Simon is old, he is not dying. He is out for revenge.
The inmates of the prison begin to re-enact the events that took place in a Canadian town forty years earlier. Young Simon, Bilodeau and a third boy, Vallier, all attend the local Catholic school. Simon and Vallier are in love, and being watched by the resentful Bilodau. Then, in what transpires to be a turning point for everyone, the town is suddenly host to a glamorous Parisian woman, who arrives in a hot air balloon.
When Simon realises just how much his relationship with Vallier will not be tolerated, he begins to be drawn to the Parisian guest not only as a way of quashing any further rumours about Vallier, but also as a means of escape from the town entirely.
Watching events unfold are Vallier's quirky mother and the jealous Bilodeau. Each knows how they want things to end, and eventually both try to influence the key players and help bring the tale to its equally heart-warming, and heartbreaking conclusion.
This is quite simply a wonderful film. The setting is beautiful and always slightly dreamy. The surroundings of the bishop and Simon as they watch the play continuously change and melt between a gorgeous Canadian autumn, and the stark but still poignant grey of the prison walls. To add to the slightly surreal feel of things, all the parts are played by men, the male inmates of the prison. Whilst this does make you blink when you realise Vallier's mother is a man, it doesn't detract or cheapen in any way the film. The women are believable and compelling to watch throughout.
The love story is the heart of the film. You feel for both Vallier and Simon as they try to keep up with what's happening around them. Though not sexually explicit (this is after all rated 15), the intensity of their feelings for each other cannot but captivate you. From the opening scene where they almost share a kiss, to one of their final scenes where they're surrounded by golden leaves, you are rooting for them to finally win some peace and tolerance. This film really is one not to be missed.
57 of 59 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is one of the most unusual and fascinating movies I've seen in recent years. It's 1952 and the gay inmates of a Canadian prison, aided and abetted by their chaplain, take the local bishop hostage and then enact before him an elaborate drama, complete with props and scenery, which is intended to confront him with a dark and shameful secret from his youthful past. If this all sounds a bit preposterous, it is, but don't worry. This is such an artful and mesmerising piece of cinema that disbelief is soon suspended and you are drawn into florid tale of love, betrayal and revenge which builds to a moving and devastating climax. You will even find yourself ignoring, or rather accepting, the fact that all the female roles are played, inevitably, by men. The lyrical dream-like atmosphere of the movie, suffused with menace and foreboding, is brilliantly sustained by the director and the actors, none of whom I'd heard of before, are outstanding. I guess you'd label this an arthouse movie, but I recommend it even to those who would normally shy away from this description.
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This beautiful film is so lyrical, it's almost like watching a poem. Everything about this film works: the script, the directing, the cast, the look. This film gives new meaning to the gay feature film genre.
Based on a play, Lilies retains a stage feeling as the premise is a play-within-a-play. Whereas the audience is not required to use it's imagination as much while watching the film as it was when watching the play, the film does require an open mind and the ability to suspend disbelief. If you allow it, Lilies will take you on a very special ride as seldom films do or can.
The chemistry between Jason Cadieux (a much under-used young actor) and Danny Gilmore (mainly known from French-Canadian television) is remarkable, making their tragic love-story all the more moving. Special mention needs to be made to Tony Award-winner, Brent Carver, who's portrayal of the delusional Countess De Tilly is the stuff that Oscars should be made of.
A stunning piece of film-making, which should not be missed!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Play Within a Play Within a Film
The film is set in a Quebec prison in 1952 but much of the action looks back to rural Canada of forty year before. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Nicholas Casley
Stagebound but interesting!
This film version is a disappointment in comparison with the stage production. The all male cast deliver effective performances and the direction is adequate but Lillies is... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Adrian Drew
Lilies
Who wrote this crap.
I could not believe I anyone would watch this rubbish watched
Story line is dull and the flim is slow and hard to follow. Read more
I could not believe I anyone would watch this rubbish watched
Story line is dull and the flim is slow and hard to follow. Read more
Published on 27 April 2010 by Sottish guy
Sorry, but ...
I thought it was fairly dreadful. Lack of plot is one thing; simple incoherence is another.
Published on 15 Dec 2009 by critic
A lush, jarmanesque story of love, sin and redemption
This film is a rarity, sharing much with the cinematography of the late Derek Jarman. Its Catholic themes of forbidden love, sin and redemption, as well as its rich, beautifully... Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2009 by Mr. P. Baker
Artistic theatre-style depiction of great tragedy.
An absorbing film. Very clever and unusually depicted story-telling. It wasn't obvious what the great drama was going to turn out to be and I was guessing who was who for quite... Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2008 by Andrew
One of the best films to ever come out of Canada!
Structured like "Man of La Mancha" (a play within a play) this film cannot hide its roots as a stage play. But who cares?! It's brilliant, and a visual delight. Read more
Published on 1 July 2001 by T. Halkin
a film you will not se every day
A very interesting and special and sensitive film that you will not se every day unless you buy this video .the film was made in canada. Read more
Published on 21 July 2000
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