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Ivan (Aram Arakelyan), a vagrant from Russia, wanders the streets of Paris with no money and nothing on him but his backpack, and finds the city increasingly hostile to the likes of his. So he makes off to the woods of Vincennes, where he can sleep under the stars and let nature do the rest - only it doesn't work that way, even in the woods he's dependent on begging for money or food, and sometimes even stealing it. Eventually, he meets Ben (Benjamin Baclet), a young rentboy turning tricks in the woods, who takes him a like-minded guy, and when Ivan assures him nothing could be further from the truth, Ben and the other hustlers still think he's stealing their clientele. Eventually, Ivan has sex with an older woman (Corine Watrin) at a nearby pagoda, and she insists on paying him - and his pure need wins out over his pride and he accepts, basically letting her prostitute him. Soon afterwards, Ivan meets Pierre (Franck Zerbib), a man who shows obvious interest in him, even if Ivan turns him down. Pierre shows up again and again though, for things eventually coming to a head as a consequence ...

La Balade d'Ivan is a quite unique movie as while its story very much suggests a social drama, the film's very poetic, almost lyrical approach makes it feel like something else, a rather beautiful if sometimes pretty nasty moodpiece, thanks to a wonderful scenery, camerawork able to catch the beauty of it without going all-out kitsch, and a slow but steady flow of events that keeps the audience invested in the story without taking away from the atmosphere, while a voiceover from Ivan's diary from his days back in Russia serves as a wonderful counterpoint to the on-screen goings-on. And very natural and subtle performances only help make this one a rather beautiful film.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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