"Me and the Other" in Francois Ozon's Films 

François Ozone is one of the leading figures in the new one New Wave of French cinema. He was born in 1967 in Paris. He graduated directing and initially made short films. He made his full-length movie debut in 1998 with sitcom satire. Good reviews and reviews are given for her, but his big breakthrough is inevitably with "8 Women," with Catherine Denov. Ozone's films fascinate with their deep psychology, expressed through sexuality and the eternal theme of "I and the Other."

Here we look at how these themes unfold in some of his latest works.

The Other Lover was released in 2017 and is Ozone's latest project to date. The story is about a young woman who begins a love affair with her psychoanalyst. Their relationship seems normal and healthy until Clowey begins a parallel relationship with his twin brother. The literal translation of the title reads "Double Lover". So in the beginning the director hints at the duality of personality. Then the plot confirms that the brother is really nothing but a mirror image of Paul, born in Clowy's mind. In it she sees everything that Paul does not own - Paul hates cats, but Louis adores them just like her. With the help of this fictional lover, Clowey tries to strike a balance in his relationship because the other complements the former.

Franz brings us back to the post-WWII era in a small town in Germany. Not only because of the natural dynamics of the small town's climate, but also because the characters live with their grieving grief over Franz. However, his parents and his young widow were soon pulled out of the swamp of grief, thanks to Frenchman Adrian, who began visiting the grave of the deceased. The family takes him to his home for a long visit, during which he tells them bizarre stories about his friendship with Franz. He introduced himself as his classmate from his studies in France, which had happened before the war. Thus, Andrian hides the truth that he is, in fact, the one who killed him on the front, not his friend from his college years.

In the course of history, it is clear that they tend to forgive him because he now returns Franz to them and they can live a better, even ideal, but at the same time imaginative Franz, who is however so powerful that he himself Adrian begins to embody it. The images of the two boys blur until they are completely identical. For the parents, the stranger is already their son, and for Anna he is her lost husband. Of course, the viewer realizes that the characters are not healed by their pain, but go through the natural stages of the grief process. For them, fantasy is an escape from the harsh reality. We see that grief is not static, that it is a spectrum of states and motion between phases.

We also ask ourselves: Who is the "other"? Is the “other” not just an inner dimension of our ideas, and if so, are we able to build a meaningful connection with a person who is truly absent? Adrian himself begins to have a fantastic friendship with a slight taste of homosexuality with a person he never knew.

Coming out of the controversy about fantasy and reality, many ethical questions are raised in this film. About the "nobility" of a lie and whether the truth always helps or is it better to lie to protect the person. Also an unchanging military theme, but this time not presented as heroism, but rather how both are victims, "brothers of fate" and how bad is the war that turns those who might have been friends into enemies .

"17 only" deals with a special kind of psychologism, presented in a virtuoso way. Here, François Ozon not only destroys the psychology of the characters, he also deals with the psychology of the viewers. Through every action it provokes expectations and breaks the cliche of typical drama.

The film begins with a summer vacation in Provence, where Isabelle experiences her first love. The scene is classic - warm summer evenings, pastoral romance away from the city, carefree youth and the first enchantment of longing. But after her arrival in Paris, we understand that Isabelle does not have sentiment to her summer affair, and for her intimacy is just a game she is indifferent to. As her peers fall in love and make love, she decides to prostitute without being pressured by circumstances or suffering from material and emotional defects.