DVD Review: Man At Bath

Man At Bath is an unusual film about two men whose relationship may or may not be at an end when one of them travels to New York. It stars Francois Sagat and Omar Ben Sellem.

The film opens with some hand-held video footage shot as Omar (Omar Ben Sellem) walks along, humming a bit to himself. He then turns the camera on himself as he lights a cigarette. The film then takes us inside his apartment, where we see him continue to casually shoot some footage, while his partner, Emmanuel (Francois Sagat), is in the shower. Omar is packed, and tells Emmanuel, “I gotta go.” That’s actually the first line of the film, but we then soon learn Omar will be gone for only a week.

Emmanuel then basically forces himself on Omar, leading Omar to tell him he wants him gone by the time he returns from his trip. The camera is hand-held, with some movement, drawing parallels to the footage Omar was shooting in the opening moments, leading us to feel that Omar’s perspective is the film’s perspective as well. But then the film actually stays with Emmanuel, as Omar leaves. We see him watching Omar, then dancing by himself in the apartment. There is something odd about Emmanuel. His head is shaved, but there is a dark patch on the top of his head, as if drawn with a marker. It’s a bizarre look.

Emmanuel goes to another man’s apartment and immediately strips while the man watches wordlessly. He then tells Emmanuel that he’s like a sculpture. “But would I buy you like I bought this other art? No, ‘cause you’re bad art.” It’s an interesting moment, with Emmanuel, a strong man, suddenly looking vulnerable standing there, now speechless. The older man is fully dressed, while Emmanuel is naked. The older man’s next request is surprising (though nothing really comes of it). I love that it’s done without a score, without any music, just spoken directly, plainly. And then when music does play, it’s from a source in picture – a record the older man puts on.

It’s interesting that while the film’s opening and the hand-held camera work seem designed to put us in Omar’s world, the film then spends much more time with Emmanuel. But we’re still seeing him from Omar’s perspective, even in Omar’s absence. It’s almost like we as the audience take Omar’s place.

In New York, Omar goes to screenings of a film that he is involved with in some way, and we see portions of them through his hand-held video camera. At one Q&A, he focuses his camera on one man in the audience, Dustin. We don’t see Omar for quite a while in New York. We see his perspective, we see what interests him, but he is largely absent from his own storyline. It’s an interesting way of presenting it.

And though both Omar and Emmanuel become involved with other men, it is clear that they are still thinking of each other. And we do see some of Omar and Emmanuel’s relationship through flashbacks.

The film has a very believable, matter-of-fact style to it, at least until a female friend says to Emmanuel: “I want to see your ass. I’ve been dreaming of seeing your ass. I will give you twenty bucks to show me your ass.” That is the first thing that feels artificial, and momentarily destroys the vibe that the film has worked hard to create.

By the way, there’s a nice, surprising little bit about telegrams being obsolete that I really appreciated. And for you J.D. Salinger fans, there’s a shot of Dustin reading a bit of Franny And Zooey in a bathtub.

Man At Bath was written and directed by Christophe Honore, and is was released on DVD on August 5, 2014 through Canteen Outlaws and TLA Releasing. The DVD includes the film’s trailer.