Bartosz (Julian Swierzewski) and Étienne (Alexis Manenti) only reveal each other’s names to one another before they part for the first time in “Flesh and Fuel,” as if everything about their first romantic encounter happens in reverse. Both long-haul truckers with certain needs, they find each other in a forest off the road that has a reputation for its anonymous sexual encounters and would have no reason to exchange any information to each other after connecting on a far more intimate level, except for the fact that the police break up the party and the two actually have to start talking. Pierre le Gall’s unexpectedly frisky directorial debut, like its characters, generally keeps up a serious face, but the director shows sharp instincts by playing up the awkwardness of two burly dudes that have likely let their actions speak for them far more uncomfortable just trying to make conversation, yielding a truly inspired romance.
If there are no obstacles in this day and age for a couple make things work if they really love one another, you should tell it to Bartosz and Étienne, who not only overcome an early reticence towards articulating what they’re really feeling towards one another, but quite literally pass by each other on different sides of the highway like strangers in the night. You know Étienne, who definitely doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve, has had his interest piqued by Bartosz when he starts keeping an eye out for his big red truck at various depots, yet even after the two begin developing a deeper relationship than casual sexual rendezvouses, a real relationship proves elusive when they are pulled in opposite directions by their work, with Bartosz, a Polish immigrant having to drive all over Europe when working for a lower amount than the French-born Étienne, at least a second-generation trucker with local protections who can keep his routes short within his own country. The two also have the nagging habit of having been on the road so long the thought of any attachment has become foreign, but both start to brighten by the glow of late night FaceTimes.
When “Flesh and Fuel” introduces itself in the gritty aesthetic of a typical working class drama befitting of the profession at hand, it’s unusually moving when there are slight stylistic flourishes that accompany Étienne imagining a different life for himself, with the camerawork becoming a little more fluid and Paul Sabin’s synthy score starting to kick in as the trucker’s pulse starts to race as he can’t get Bartosz out of his head. It is particularly effective to watch the gruff exterior of Manenti, a most welcome tough guy in any film since breaking out in Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables,” start to melt away as the film wears on as Étienne tires of a life where only Anita, his CB dispatch, keeps him company on long drives and he’s reminded throughout of giving over all of his time to his work deprives him of other milestones as relatives and co-workers have children in the rare moments he isn’t on the clock. (One of the lovely subtle touches in le Gall, Camille Perton and Martin Drouot’s script is presenting how in spite of signs of a general acceptance of his sexuality to those who pick up on it, Étienne himself carries outdated ideas about what he can and can’t do as a gay man, still feeling it’s necessary to tuck into the dark of night to hook up and a conventional domestic life with a family of his own seems slightly out of reach at least psychologically if not practically.)
As Étienne surprises himself with the person he starts to think about settling down, “Flesh and Fuel” disarms as it actually becomes something more familiar yet completely original, given its milieu and its unusual romantic leads who have to recognize that their connection is something worth fighting for. Both tender and funny, the film radiates warmth throughout that Étienne and Bartosz struggle with showing one another, giving the story its considerable dramatic heft and le Galle not only injects a real energy into the moments where passion obviously overtakes them, but also how they long for one another when they aren’t in each other’s company, ultimately a reason it’s just as apt to linger fondly for a while in others’ minds as well.
“Flesh and Fuel” does not yet have U.S. distribution.