Life Kills Me

May 26, 2002

1h 26m

★ 5.2

Two brother, two dreams.

Overview

Paul is a smart, university educated Frenchman of North African ancestry. He's a smooth talker, but he can't seem to get a job worthy of his skills. He ends up living in a single room, struggling to get by while going on many fruitless job interviews, during which he tries to impress his potential employers by turning his pizza delivery job into a tall tale about revamping the whole pizza chain. But at some point, they always seem to "see through him." He retreats into the boxing ring. His secretly gay brother Daniel also has trouble finding his place in the world. He spends all his time bodybuilding and takes dangerous drugs to enhance his physique. He dreams of being the next Schwarzenegger, but is forced to settle for a demeaning job as a "star" in a Hamburg sex club. Based on Jack-Alain Léger's novel

Genres

Drama

Production Companies

Fabienne Servan Scheiber Productions

Canal+

CNC

FilmFörderung Hamburg

Life Kills Me Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Paul Smaïl

Sami Bouajila

Daniel Smaïl

Jalil Lespert

Myriam

Sylvie Testud

Diop

Simon Bakinde

M. Louis

Roger Ibáñez

Mohamed Ourdache

Monsieur Benny

Marc Andréoni

Pequod

François Sinapi

Monsieur Barthas

Lucien Longueville

Le père Smaïl

M'hamed Benguettaf

Mr. Suard

Philippe Duclos

La mère Smaïl

Tassadit Mandi

Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.

7.3

Beautiful Thing

Jun 21, 1996

Set during a long, hot summer on the Thamesmead Estate in Southeast London, where three teenagers edge towards adulthood.

5.7

Anton Tchekhov 1890

Mar 18, 2015

Summer 1890. In order to make some money to feed his family, Anton Chekhov, modest physician, wrote short stories for newspapers to sign Antosha Tchékhonté. Important characters, writer and editor, just make him aware of his talent. His situation is improving and Anton Chekhov gets the Pushkin prices and admiration of Tolstoy. But when one of his brothers died of tuberculosis, Anton saw it as a personal failure and wants to escape his fame and his love.

6.8

The Majestic

Dec 21, 2001

Set in 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a long-lost son.

6.7

Riding in Cars with Boys

Oct 19, 2001

In 1965, a young woman with dreams of becoming a writer has a son at the age of 15 and struggles to make things work with the drug-addicted father.

7.2

Léolo

Sep 16, 1992

The story of an imaginative boy who pretends he is the child of a sperm-laden Sicilian tomato upon which his mother accidentally fell.

6.8

Wonder Boys

Feb 22, 2000

Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.

5.0

Ranchlands

Sep 1, 2019

The story of a spiritually scarred man whose life changes forever when he must return to his estranged family to help care for a brother who is suffering from brain cancer. With the help of a spiritually enlightened caregiver, he faces the demons of the past and a secret that has haunted him and his family for many years.

6.2

Alfa

Mar 5, 2016

Alfa, a famous porn actor, must deal with his fears, insecurities and memories when he begins work on a new film without Yerry, his former partner in life and porn. On his first day of shooting without him, Alfa tries to act as in the past but can things be like before? Javier Ferreiro's short film reflects on the difficult decision of letting someone go to move forward. ALFA is framed in the context of gay porn cinema in Cuba where pornography is banned but, little by little, it's growing up an underground industry impulsed by foreign tourism.

4.8

Write to Kill

Nov 20, 1991

In this thriller, Jamie Sanford is murdered by a group of counterfeiters when he attempts to expose them in order to secure an early parole. However, when aspiring writer Clark learns of his brothers death, he sets out to exact revenge and bring the guilty to justice while being framed for his brothers murder.

8.5

Young Diego

Jun 17, 2021

With a haunting atmosphere and a narrative open to different interpretations, 'El joven Diego' is presented as a metaphor that explores interpersonal relationships and human desire. A very personal portrait of youth and the search for first 'love'.

6.5

Drive Back Home

Sep 19, 2024

A conservative plumber from a small east coast village who travels to Toronto in order to get his brother out of jail after he is arrested for having sex with another man in a public park. At the insistence of their strong willed mother, the two brothers must drive the 1000 mile trip back home to New Brunswick, together - discovering each other and themselves along the way.

6.5

Apt Pupil

Oct 23, 1998

One day in 1984, Todd Bowden, a brilliant high school boy fascinated by the history of Nazism, stumbles across an old man whose appearance resembles that of Kurt Dussander, a wanted Nazi war criminal. A month later, Todd decides to knock on his door.

6.9

A Knight's Tale

May 11, 2001

William Thatcher, a knight's peasant apprentice, gets a chance at glory when the knight dies suddenly mid-tournament. Posing as a knight himself, William won't stop until he's crowned tournament champion—assuming matters of the heart don't get in the way.

0.0

The Male Gaze: A Better Tomorrow

Oct 23, 2023

Go on an enriching journey from Mexico to Spain, onto Austria and then to China via Greece in these five moving short films where gay men overcome various obstacles in accepting who they are, and where they are going - things can only get better. The 5 short films are: If They Knew [Berak baleki] (2021); Xutaj (2022); Boom and Bloom [Neuzeit] (2022); Sexual Distancing (2022); And We Collide [潮汐平行时] (2021).

7.3

Uncle Frank

Nov 25, 2020

In 1973, when Frank Bledsoe and his 18-year-old niece Beth take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina for the family patriarch's funeral, they're unexpectedly joined by Frank's lover Walid.

5.1

The Marvelous Visit

Nov 27, 1974

In a small French village, an angel appears disguised as a beautiful young blond.

1.0

The Aussie Boys

Jul 29, 2022

Come and take a trip 'Down Under' and witness seven stories about the lives and loves of these men and boys from across Australia. From historical beginnings in the 1600's all the way through to noughties truck stop dilemmas, present day road trip romancing and faces from the past returning for a final goodbye. The 7 short films are: Burning Soul (2016); Miles (2017); Infidels (2017); Eric (2014); What Grown-Ups Know (2004); All Good Things (2019); The Dam (2016).