Director: Olivier Ducastel

Summary: Felix (Sami Bouajila) is a thirtysomething, HIV-positive gay guy. In this film about family and the discovery of self, Felix is first seen jauntily riding his bike. When he gets laid off from work and starts cleaning out his dead mother's house, Felix uncovers some old letters from his father, who he's never met. The discovery takes Felix on a hitchhiking journey to Marseilles to search for the family that he never had. On the way, he meets a number of quirky characters identified by intertitles that describe each one respectively as his little brother, his grandmother, his cousin, his sister, and finally his father; in what becomes his surrogate family. Felix kills time on the highway singing songs as he sashays through the emerald fuzz of the French countryside, waiting for a car to pick him up. He's at home in a field of buttercups, flying a kite, or crooning to the sun to come out and shine, and he never misses his favorite soap opera about a viciously superficial family that's out to get each other. In the end, directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau allow Felix to show us that the bonds within family are about much more than blood.

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If the idea of a French, subtitled, gay, soul-searching road film doesn't exactly sound like your cup of tea, think again: Drole de Felixis a film that will transcend any barrier. Felix of the title is a young, gay French Arab who decides to travel south from Normandy to Marseilles in search of the father who abandoned him before he was born. His journey (mainly by hitchhiking but also by slightly less legal means) forms the bulk of the film's storyline, combined with a handful of characters who become brief but important parts of his life. Sami Bouajili carries the film magnificently, switching effortlessly from the lighter, comedic moments (of which there are many, including a surprising amount regarding the character's HIV-positive status) to Felix's search for self. There is a rather unnecessary subplot concerning a witnessed murder, but even it has a moving conclusion. On paper, perhaps, not the most enticing of prospects, Drole de Felixis, in it's own quiet way, a gem. --Phil Udell

Main Language:	French
Region:	Region 0
Year:	2000
Release Date:	April 23, 2001
Runtime:	91 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	P P D V D 006
Keywords:	Adventures, Comedy, General, Felix, French, De, Drole
Genre:	Comedy