NORTH SEA, TEXAS **

You know you are in for a sensitive, perhaps even hyper-sensitive, treatment of homosexuality from the start. A young boy of maybe 10 or so, Pim, dresses up as a beauty queen, naked all but for a sash, his mother's jewellery and perfume. His single mother, who likes men, maybe a bit too much, and to hang out in the local bar, Texas, doesn't scold him nor do the friendly neighbours he spends so much time with. It is clear they, like us, can see the man the boy will become.

When we next see Pim he's just turned 15 and is infatuated with the neighbour's 18 year old son, Gino, and we know his future is already mapped out. The only thing is will director Bavo Defurne give us a picture of suicidal teenage angst or something more along the lines of "Beautiful Thing"? Well, let's just say there are plenty of bumps along the way in his film "North Sea, Texas".

In this country, of course, such stories of gay teenage sexuality would be virtually taboo where almost any depiction of sex in which either of the parties involved is under the age of consent is considered child abuse but those pesky foreigners have always lead the way in matters of the flesh, (remember Louis Malle's "Les Amants"?). Here, we might describe this film as brave, even daring, but it's probably quite commonplace in its native Belgium.

All the performances are good with Jelle Florizoone and Mathias Vergels as the teenage lovers, Pim and Gino respectively, slipping into their roles with remarkable ease while Nina Marie Kortekaas as Gino's younger sister, who has more than a crush on Pim, is also excellent. Only the most prurient of minds could take offence at this most bitter-sweet of teenage romances.