in the bed scene with Ismaël? The song Ismaël sings says "pleure" ("cry") and Erwann seems to be crying at that point. Why is Ismaël consoling him? Shouldn't it be the other way around, since he is the one who has lost the girlfriend?
shareBefore, in song "La Distance" ("The Distance"), Ismael sings that he has a great mistery, that Erwann woudn't even imagine. Then, in that song "Pleure", Erwann understands that Ismael lost the girlfriend and cries for that. In the song Ismael sings "It's only in me that she lives" and "Kill her once again", ans later "What for the tears to soak the pillow, I tried, I tried. But my heart is dry and my swollen eyes."
Hope I helped. I love this film.
EDIT: But the song you called "Pleure" is actually called "Ma mémoire sale" ("My Messy Memory) (from the OST)
Erwann wasn't crying. If you look carefully, he's really very happy.
shareYeah, it was hard to tell! I think I know the exact moment they're talking about - when he's lying down on the bed, it looks like he's crying, but when he sits up again he looks really happy. Maybe it was a bit of both.
shareI saw the movie again last night, and I looked at the scene very carefully. I hate to say it, but I think the "crying" is the actor's attempt at portraying ecstacy. It is a bed scene after all and Ishmael (SP) is fondling him.
shareErwann certainly was not crying. He was smiling happily.
shareI agree with alaspuryorick. I'm pretty sure he was crying because Ismael mentioned crying in the next line of lyrics. I think he was crying because, as people have mentioned, he finally realized Ismael is so dark and mysterious because his girlfriend just died. This made Erwann realize he was like the rebound guy and maybe Ismael was just using him to try and forget Julie. Erwann seems like a very sincere and sensitive person anyway so I'd believe that he was just crying because the person he loves was in pain.
shareI think Erwann always knew that Ismael just came out of a relationship, when he talked about life long loves causing suffering. I don't really think there was anything selfish when he cried (and yes, I think he cried, but he was also happy). He really empathised a lot with Ismael and he felt Ismael's pain then.
shareIn the song he tells Erwann (pardon the clumsy translation):
Hunt
Stalk her in me
It's only inside me that she lives
And when you have her at the point of your gun
Don't listen if she begs
You know
She must die a second death
So
Kill her... again.
One way of looking at those lyrics is that Ismaël is telling Erwann that in order to create room for himself in Ismaël's heart he must obliterate the memory of Julie, wipe all trace of her away. This is a very sad thing to say, and it makes Erwann sad to think of it (and to fear that Ismaël may be using him only for that very purpose). That's when Ismaël tells him, "Go ahead and cry; I already did that and it didn't help. What good are tears besides getting the cushions wet?" And indeed, why should he cry? After all, he is getting his heart's desire. So then he smiles and smiles as he embraces Ismaël.
I just assumed that he really felt sorry for Ismael at that point. He didn't imagine that the reason Ismael was so sad and mysterious was because a lost a lover. When he realized that he cried for him.
Later in the scene when he was smiling, he was happy that he finally had him in his arms.
Erwann knew it right from the start. The very first time he and insomniac Ismaël met he said he knew what happened. Ismaël replied something like "I don't know what you were told, but I am OK on my own" (because he wanted to be left alone). Erwann ignored that and made them some coffee.