About the Film
A secret wrestling hall; characters carrying names that take us to the world of ancient mythology; and the grim faces of Kawabata's old men; men whose wishes go beyond sleeping next to beautiful women, to the rut of violence and blood. These are the elements used by director Franchin Don in the narrative of his feature film You Are Young You Are Pretty.
Lucius suffers from an age-related crisis, feeling that his best years are behind him. While attending a funeral, he meets Laher, a mysterious person who invites him to his nightclub, and offers to introduce him to a new world. In the basement of this club, Laher hosts wrestling matches without rules, laws, or limits, where audiences get to place their bets. The only condition is that all the wrestlers must be elderly men in their physical decline. Death, in these games, is considered natural by the spectators, without objection or remorse.
The protagonist is attracted to this bloody world, where gains go beyond just obscene amounts of money. It pushes the players into a world of pleasures filled with strip clubs, prostitutes, and drugs. And while he may not necessarily enjoy those things, Lucius indulges himself in the sense of adventure and the adrenaline rush that make him and his mates feel more alive than ever. This rush makes him want to desperately push everything to the limit; something his new game mate, Aldo, knows all too well.
Franchin Don uses a special method in outlining and narrating the story, driving it away from the purely realistic form, especially as he creates his characters. Laher, for instance, is portrayed as the moral devil who respects nothing but money and his own well-kept promises. On the other hand, Don’s visual approach masterfully combines realism in close-up shots of the sagging skin of the elderly and the nightmarish lighting, which always makes us feel that we are part of a metaphysical world.
Amir Ramses
