\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A calculated love story told through reps and calories, the Hungarian Gentle<\/i> flexes all the right muscles. Writer\/directors Anna Eszter Nemes and Laszlo Csuja have found two stunning non-professional actors, injecting their enhancing performances into their beefy tale of bodybuilding obsession, romance and (un)fulfillment. Well-defined and stylishly posed, Gentle<\/i> has a big heart beneath the bulk.<\/p>\n
Edina (Eszter Csonka) is a rising champ in the bodybuilding world. Under the exacting eye of her professional and romantic partner Adam (Gyorgy Turos), she\u2019s qualifying for bigger and better tournaments, evening out her Herculean proportions, and linking her poses together with fluid grace. A stunning opening long take is as unable to look away from Edina as her spectators, twirling around her as she does the same for the judges. Csonka immediately proves herself an engaging actor, compelling in performance mode and with butterflies in her washboard stomach, especially shining when she makes that magical leap from artist to artform when striking a pose.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gentle<\/i> doesn\u2019t shy away from the ironically self-destructive facets of the by-definition constructive pursuit. It\u2019s brutally explicit about the body horror of bodybuilding. Needles into engorged veins, faces beaten by dehydration and exhaustion, hearts pushed to the brink. Edina is the meat, the art, the display. But she is also the one doing the push-ups, the squats, the hours on the exercise bike. It\u2019s grueling and unforgiving, both in the moment and with its results: Not only is Edina\u2019s physique really only appreciated under competition conditions, it\u2019s Adam who gets all the attention from the superfans, both as a man and as a former champ himself. Turos is just as fantastic as his foil, resigned and hopeful and loving behind stoic eyes that once knew the spotlight.<\/p>\n
Both performers undergo a shift when faced with the financial reality of getting Edina to the next step in her competitive journey. Affording an expensive cocktail of supplements, lean meats and chemicals\u2014not to mention plane tickets, entry fees, gym memberships\u2014is an expensive ask, especially without a sponsor or patron. Adam tries to get extra work as a Magic Mike<\/a>-like dancer, but can\u2019t bring himself to (or, as we see Edina stretching him earlier in the film, perhaps simply can\u2019t) perform. So it\u2019s up to Edina. She\u2019ll do it all. Through a contact hanging around the backrooms of the bodybuilding world, she finds her way into specialty sex work, where the superficial links of showmanship and physicality give way to more intimate satisfactions, making the most of her unique build.<\/p>\n She starts simple. She\u2019ll just do what she does on stage: Strike her mandatory poses, tighten her muscle groups in turn, and allow people to fetishize her body. But, like bodybuilding, this gives way to more nuanced pleasures. Not all clients simply want to jerk off as they feel her flex, excited by her extreme body. As she meets one in particular who\u2019s harmlessness disarms her, Gentle<\/i> goes beneath the tanned pectorals to find themes of denial and desire, of small pleasures and taboos\u2014of seeking relief from the confines of an established and expected routine in harmless, unassuming ways: A nibbled energy bar, a feminine gown, a head in a lap. Edina can be appreciated here for more than her body, a note underscored by a particular John\u2019s penchant for blindfolds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But one doesn\u2019t become a bodybuilder without leaning towards obsession, and Edina\u2019s desire for emotional fulfillment shifts in an unhealthy way. As her conventional life tightens its grip\u2014as Adam cracks down on her secret nibbles of chocolate or her disapproving father gives another glare at her displays of strength\u2014she flees further and further towards something that can\u2019t save her.<\/p>\n Nemes and Csuja conduct it all expertly with a bevy of stylish techniques. They divide frames between their stars, highlighting their comfortable energy together and the tension that can naturally arise when said closeness masks increasingly disparate motives. As their big competition approaches, Adam becomes more withdrawn and focused while Edina gets more coquettish and rebellious. Their intensity becomes clear in staring takes that mimic the opening sequence. Adam cuts Edina down again and again in a long posing practice session, shot through a mirror that enhances the intimacy and distance one can have with a professional partner. Touching on the same emotions in an opposite way, Edina and her client meet in a series of clandestine locations, culminating in a near-mystical musical encounter in a deep-blue locker room. This emotional heat burns through a cold color palette that\u2019d make Edina\u2019s sparkly bikinis pop even if they didn\u2019t look like rare tropical fish beached on the world\u2019s buffest sandbar.<\/p>\n Gentle<\/i>\u2019s delightful contradictions of self-harm and self-love bolster the sweet film beyond its garish and attention-grabbing premise. Just as its stars clearly have more to offer than their images, Nemes and Csuja\u2019s movie interrogates superficiality in all forms\u2014and pushes those who\u2019ve made it their business to the limits.<\/p>\n Director:<\/b> Anna Eszter Nemes, Laszlo Csuja Jacob Oller is Movies Editor at Paste Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at @jacoboller<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For all the latest movie news, reviews, lists and features, follow @PasteMovies<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n
Writers:<\/b> Anna Eszter Nemes, Laszlo Csuja
Stars:<\/b> Eszter Csonka, Gyorgy Turos, Csaba Krisztik
Release Date:<\/b> January 21, 2022 (Sundance)<\/p>\n
\n