Pascal-Alex Vincent | Candy Boy / 2007

how good boys learn to become bad

by Douglas Messerli

 

Martin Drouot and Pascal-Alex Vincent (screenplay), Pascal-Alex Vincent (director) Candy Boy / 2007 [13 minutes]

 

 

After his study of film history at the University of Paris III, Pascal-Alex Vincent worked for a while in the distribution of Japanese films in France, most likely where he developed his interest in anime, to which his 2007 animated short seems to be a tribute.

     I don’t know to whom this film in shown in France, but I’d like to imagine that what is now clearly adult oriented material in the US might become a wonderful children’s film not only revealing the problematics of Catholic orphanages, but expounding on the dangers of our eco-system, the joys of queer love, and the reasons for bad-boy behavior. It would be perfect entertainment for kids!

     I’m afraid, however, it would be banned in most of the nation’s red states these days, and perhaps in even some of the blue ones. We’ve retreated into a time when such wonderfully perceptive visions aren’t allowed to be spoken about let alone viewed by the young.

     The central character here, Candy Boy (voiced by Julien Bouanich), is a model student, a slightly older boy in an orphanage who serves as the perfect leader for the younger boys, the sort of older brother you’d dream of. The nuns love him, particularly La mère supérieure (Marie-Christine Darah).

     But one day, while out playing with the younger boys, he observes along with them that most of the fish that swim in the local stream running through the orphanage property are dying. Our vigilant and valiant Candy Boy will most certainly be looking into the matter.

     Except at that very moment, a new boy, closer in age or even older than Candy Boy, suddenly is introduced into the community, Samy (Aymen Saïdi) a tough kid, who smokes, gambles, and, in general, is up to no good. And, even worse, he seems to particularly dislike the do-gooder Candy.

      Of course, his bad boy attitude, like a contemporary James Dean, immediately attracts some of boys and girls. Indeed, Samy threatens Candy Boy’s status—although Candy still beats him in a competitive foot race, perhaps because Samy’s not in the fittest of conditions.

     Candy Boy soon finds some of his peers missing from their dormitory beds at night, hanging out in the bathroom where they’re corrupted into gambling and smoking by Samy.

     Yet, Candy Boy can’t help but be attracted to the new figure, who brags of having refused to be force-fed at the previous orphanage from which he’s been evicted.

     But meanwhile, Candy decides to concentrate his energies upon discovering why the local fish are dying, and even more importantly, why some of the younger boys are suddenly getting sick, in response to whose illness the Mother Superior describes them as faking, particularly when they plead for Candy Boy to come comfort them.

     Cigarette butts have been found in the school toilet, and Samy is taken away for detention, locked up in an orphanage cell. Candy Boy assures him that he hasn’t told anybody about his night-time activities, but all Samy can mutter is “Open your eyes, you might learn something.”   

      Two large smokestacks in the distance certainly hint of the matter. When he tells Mother Superior of his suspicions that the McManus Company is causing the local water pollution, he is told that McManus pays for his uniform, for the fish they have each Friday. Who has put such sordid ideas into his head, Samy? She grounds the boy, refusing to believe any of his accusations.

     That night Candy Boy sneaks out to the McManus plant only to discover Samy is already there as well, the two observing the plant workmen pouring toxic waste into the waters, which is why the orphanage boys are getting sick, so Samy tells him. “You shouldn’t be here Candy Boy. You’re a good pupil,” Samy declares.

     He offers Candy a cigarette and soon tosses his own fag into the waters, an immediate conflagration flaring up, burning down the plant. As the employees rush out, ready to explore what has happened, the boys run off, falling into the bushes on top of one another. For a moment as they regain their composure, Samy insists that Candy Boy has “no place with us,” before the two quickly embrace and quite literally ascend as two entwined, kissing bodies rise into the stratosphere. Who “us” is, is never quite established, but he is certainly taken off to “queer heaven.”

     Candy Boy wakes up naked in a pasture, eventually showing up again at the orphanage with happy greetings from his fellows. He looks for Samy only to discover that he’s being taken off by the police, the Mother Superior insisting that the river contamination was simply an accident. When Candy Boy argues that she’s lying, begging Samy to tell her the truth. But he merely puts his finger to his lips and the paddy wagon rolls off.

      In the very next frame, Candy Boy is at his window where he lights up a cigarette. Mother Superior appears and demands he put out the cigarette and go to bed immediately. Candy Boy simply turns and blows smoke into her face.

      That’s what happens to all good boys who learn the truth about themselves and the society in which they live.

       If every animated feature was as enduring as Candy Boy, I might become a fan of anime as well.

 

Los Angeles, May 30, 2023

Reprinted from World Cinema Review (May 2023).