WINSTAR CINEMA
Felix, right, played by Sami Bouajila, and his teacher
boyfriend say au revoir for the time being in a scene
from "The Adventures of Félix."

Bicycle built for 1
takes a quaint trip

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By Gary Chun
Gchun@starbulletin.com

A young Arab man, dressed in a dark suit, is riding his bicycle to work in the port city of Dieppe, located in the north of France. "The Adventures of Felix (Drôle de Félix)," the latest film by French filmmakers Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, establishes this with a single tracking shot. The cyclist, Sami Bouajila, is handsome, the scenery picturesque, and a lovely tune sung in French by the wonderful American jazz singer Blossom Dearie completes this disarming scene.

"Disarming" is the operative word here. You would think a film about a gay, HIV-positive French Arab would be fraught with tension, both homophobic and racist. But Bouajila's character is so young, impulsive, carefree and charming that whatever pops up on his journey south in search of the father who abandoned him and his mother 20 years ago, he remains optimistic and free-spirited as the rainbow-striped kite he travels with.

In this film and 1998's "Jeanne and the Perfect Guy (Jeanne et le Garçon Formidable)," Ducastel and Martineau have presented young photogenic leads who seem to make it through life's obstacles through sheer charm and joie de vivre. Their previous film cast a delectable Virginie Ledoyen (before she appeared opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the mediocre "The Beach") as a travel agency receptionist in search of a man to share her life with. And she does. He turns out to be HIV-positive. And the movie's a musical!

"The Adventures of Felix (Drôle de Félix)" Not Rated (but suggested for mature audiences) Honolulu Academy of Arts Theatre, Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Félix's adventures aren't musical numbers here, but, as the occasional title cards identify, his fortuitous meetings with various "family" members along the way show that, while by film's end the viewer doesn't know if he ever succeeds in finding his father in Marseilles, his relationships with the people he meets are true and meaningful, like a family should be.

Although the thread of racial tension between the whites and Arabs wends its way through the story, it's a plot device to remind us all that racism is an ugly disease that could be infectious. As for Félix, as long as he has his affectionate white lover and his trashy morning TV soap opera, all is right in his world.

Besides Bouajila's appealing screen presence, other actors make distinct impressions along the way: Charly Sergue as a young art student smitten with Félix, Patachou as an elderly woman recently widowed from a loveless marriage who finds a kindred spirit in Félix and Ariane Ascaride, in a charming little segment, as a kind-hearted woman taking her three kids to visit with their three different fathers.

"The Adventures of Félix" promises to be nothing but a pleasant little diversion of a film, with sympathetic performances and appealing cinematography (the French country and seaside look gorgeous) by Matthieu Poirot-Delpech.

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