Unusual attraction and angst

Among the films in the final weekend of Outfest 05 is one of its strongest, most accomplished offerings, Lionel Baier’s “Garcon Stupide (Stupid Boy).� An inspired blend of spontaneity and sophistication, it creates a caring yet clear-eyed, fully dimensioned portrait of a 20-year-old gay Swiss youth named Loic (Pierre Chatagny) who regularly flees his small-city chocolate factory job for Lausanne. There, his friend Marie (Natacha Koutchoumov) allows him to crash with her while he heads out for myriad sexual encounters, sometimes for pay. Uneducated -- and unaware of the depth of Marie’s feelings for him -- Loic begins to yearn for knowledge and some meaning in his life. In every way, the film is an astute, fresh and confident work.

Marta Balletbo-Coll’s “Sevigne� and Georgia Lee’s “Red Doors� are lively, character-driven comedies featuring an unexpected lesbian romance. In the first, Anna Azcona plays a successful Barcelona stage director married to a respected theater critic (Josep Maria Pou).

She has had an affair with her co-worker (Eduard Farelo), the programmer of the National Public Theater, but finds herself attracted to a budding playwright (Balletbo-Coll), who has written an impressive play about the brilliant and scandalous Madame de Sevigne. Balletbo-Coll’s playwright is distinctive: unglamorous and effusive yet charismatic, natural and self-possessed -- in short, writer-director Balletbo-Coll has written herself a terrific part.

Lee has said that in making “Red Doors� she decided “not to play the cultural card front and center.� As a result, that the dysfunctional suburban Manhattan family of her film happens to be Chinese American surely influences some of their behavior but does not stop the Wongs from seeming universal.

Ambitious businesswoman Samantha (Jacqueline Kim) is engaged to an equally driven man but begins to wonder what marriage will be like when a business deal is allowed to interrupt sex. Teenage sister Katie (Kathy Shao-Lin Lee) is engaged with a neighbor in a contest of pranks that threatens to escalate dangerously.

Shy middle sister Julie (Elaine Kao), a medical student, is startled to find herself attracted to a movie star (Mia Riverton) who is researching a role at the hospital. Meanwhile, no one, including the sisters’ mother (Freda Foh Shen), notices that her retired husband (Tzi Ma) is in a suicidal tailspin.

Michel Horvat’s “We Are Dad� drives home the injustice endured by a Florida gay couple -- pediatric AIDS nurses Steven Lofton and Roger Croteau -- for nearly two decades because they have given a loving, nurturing home to three HIV-positive babies no one wanted and no one expected to live long. In the face of Florida’s ban on gays adopting children, the couple persisted.

One child, Ginger, died at age 6. Frank is now 17, as is Bert, who at age 6 became desirable for adoption when it was discovered he was HIV negative. At that point, Lofton and Croteau, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, decided to fight back, opening themselves up to relentless homophobia. (A postscript: In January, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Lofton’s challenge of the Florida law.)

The family thrived, eventually moving to Oregon, which agreed to provide healthcare for the children in return for caring for two little brothers who had been abused. Throughout the film, Horvat includes interviews with professionals -- who make the case that there is no evidence to support the claim that gays are unsuitable parents -- and with those who are steeped in ignorance and bigotry.

Ahead of its time

The experimental style of Jean Vigo’s legendary 1934 “L’Atalante� remains fresh and whimsical, even though it proved too sophisticated for audiences of the time. The story is simple enough: A handsome barge captain (Jean Daste) takes a pretty bride (Dita Parlo) who has never left her native village. Although the two are passionately in love, they find it hard to cope with married life.

What lifts the film above ordinary screen romance is the lyrical expressiveness and mature perspective of Vigo and cinematographer Boris Kaufman. The way in which the story is told is in itself a joy, not because Vigo and Kaufman go for flashy techniques but rather because there was an infallible sense of rightness in their choices.

As a result, the story becomes that of every young couple faced with its first marital crisis.

The other crucial aspect of the film’s grandeur of spirit is the presence of the great Michel Simon as the barge’s first mate, an unwashed eccentric who alternately intrigues and repels the bride. The quaint and earthy authentic dockside locales and Maurice Jaubert’s infectious music complete the enchantment.

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Screenings

Outfest 05

* “Garcon Stupide� (Stupid Boy): 8 tonight, Regent Showcase, 614 N. La Brea Ave., L.A.

* “Sevigne�: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood

* “Red Doors�: 7 p.m. Friday, Directors Guild of America, 7820 Sunset Blvd., L.A.

* “We Are Dad�: 7 tonight, Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place, L.A.

Info: (213) 480-7065; outfest.org

American Cinematheque

“L’Atalante�: 7:30 tonight

Where: Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica

Info: (323) 466-FILM; americancinematheque.com