4/5 Love Between Arab Men
  by H. F. Corbin (ATLANTA, GA USA)
Director Remi Lange's "The Road to Love" offers a rare glimpse for Westerners into the world of same sex relations for Arab men. Karim (Karim Tarek), is ostensibly a straight French-Algerian student living in Paris-- his girl frield is Sihem (Sihem Benamoune)-- who decides to do a study on gay Muslims for a sociology class. He meets Farid (Farid Tali), an out flight attendant who agrees to be filmed by Karim for his class project. Along the way to love, Karim has to face his own feelings for the handsome Farid.

Although the film was obviously made on a shoe-string, it has its moments and is far better than so many of the gay films coming out of Europe. The nudity and eroticism feel natural. Several deleted scenes ae included on the DVD as well as a scary interview with a young man on the subject of gay life in Algeria.

5/5 Perfect, Original, Touching and Relevant
  by Mame du Bois (Australia)
Dealing frankly yet delicately with the topic of homosexuality in Algeria, this movie is a breath of fresh air. It is original and unique. Using a hand -held camera and filmed as though it is a documentary it is obvious that some parts are scripted. This doesn't detract but in fact adds to the organic narrative that develops through the film.

This movie is not about Gay sex, but is about the full human experience of Gay love. The desire to bond and be to be loved. It almost seems that the movie rejects the idea of anonymous gay sex although is does discuss it. Our 'hero' of the story, Karim seems more interested in finding his mate.

As another reviewer here noted, the story seems autobiographical for some of the characters - using their own names. The acting is incredible and they have a clear understanding of the issues at hand. The scene where Karim first meets Farid, Karim is clearly nervous about Farid's flirtations but also seems to like it. He can't help but blush. This gives a very real feel to the story. When Farid touches his arm, Karim pulls back, but then seems to move back. For any Gay man who has had the attention of a 'straight' man will instantly identify with this.

Thoroughly enjoyable and a welcome addition to Queer cinema. The deleted scenes are especially good. The last deleted scene is particularly touching.

5/5 A lot of bang for the buck and minute
  by Dane S. Claussen (Pittsburgh, PA USA)
The previous reviewer who found the movie not worth the time & money, etc., must have a short attention span. The movie is only an hour and 10 minutes! I regularly wait an airports longer than that, and this movie has a lot more subtle punch to it than most hour-long TV shows do. I watched all of the additional features, which were obviously segments of the movie that had to be cut for some reason (financial?)--it certainly couldn't have been that the finished movie was too long for a theater audience!

1/5 not even as a documentary
  by Mauricio A. Saldivar (El Paso Tx.)
I know is a low budget movie , but this is not whorted to pay for or or even to rent it, is poorly acted, slow, poor movie

4/5 A Little Film That Packs a Wallop!
  by Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States)
ROAD TO LOVE is an obviously very low budget independent French film that introduces the audience to the theme of homosexuality as it is manifested among Islamic/Arab men. Writers Rémi Lange and Antoine Parlebas have created a script so natural, so sensitively real that at moments the film feels like a documentary (each of the young actors in the story bear their own names, the technique of storytelling is basically video interviews), but the impact of the move is quietly profound, without a trace of the saccharine or the gush of Hollywood films dealing with gay subject matter.

French Algerian Karim (Karim Tarek) is a student in Paris and spends his time with his girlfriend Sihem (Sihem Benamoune). He happens to view a television program about the gay life in Egypt in the 20th century, a life that allowed gay relationships and even marriages so along as the men gave up the lifestyle when they eventually married women. His interest in the subject results in a sociology project of interviewing gay Arab men to explore contemporary gay lifestyles. After a few aborted attempts (Karim is not sufficiently comfortable with the subject matter to gain the trust of his interviewees) Karim encounters Farid (Farid Tali), a gay, well-adjusted, quietly seductive handsome Algerian lad who not only agrees to be interviewed, but also finds ways to assist Karim with his project. Chemistry develops and the two depart Paris to visit Marseilles and Morocco and Karim discovers why the subject of choice fascinates him so!

The beauty of this film lies in the honesty in which it is written, directed, acted, and edited. Not only are we allowed to explore a subject matter few of us knew (Islamic homosexuality history and social mores), we are also presented with one of the more tender love stories on film - tender because it is not overt but rather because it is so naturally evolved. The actors are excellent and though they feel as though they are first time, off the street recruits, they find the core of the script and make the story beautiful. In French and Arabic with English subtitles. Grady Harp, March 06