I Held Him
2022 · 7m · USA
Directed by Hans Augustave
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, darkly comic, melancholic, tender
Two men sit on a couch; one recognizes his friend's silent depression and offers the uncomfortable yet healing gift of simply holding him. The film meditates on platonic male intimacy and the cultural stigma that makes such care so rare.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Two men on a couch and the camera goes steadycam only during the hug — that's a small, exact directorial idea. Respect for the discipline.
The camera locks down until the embrace, then switches to steadycam — that single technical choice does all the dramaturgical work. Augustave understands which gesture is the film. Quietly powerful instinct.
Seven minutes near-static and almost dialogue-free with the camera deliberately exploiting audience discomfort with platonic male touch — and crucially switching to steadycam only during the embrace itself, making the physical act the formal climax. That single camera-movement decision is the whole film.
Reviews
An incredibly simple film. Yet there is a profound boldness to that simplicity... Augustave is keenly aware of the taboo of platonic male intimacy and utilizes that stigma to his advantage, playfully manipulating the audience at each step... as twist-filled as any mystery-box thriller.
Saying that his film reminds me of writing by James Baldwin is about the highest praise I could possibly give. Hans Augustave has taken Baldwin a step beyond — into the space where the holding actually happens and helps.
Festivals
- Brooklyn Film Festival 2023