I've almost finalised the films for GB's film screening this Sunday (our 33rd such event!). As always I intend to do this long beforehand, and then at the last minute I get some of the latest released DVDs from abroad, and have to try and see them in time.
I still have a couple, so if something really good comes up in the next couple of evenings I might change this list, but for now, in order and rough time of screening, here they are, with some info about them after (if anyone here has already seen them, please write in with your views): 1) 1.45 pm: Ciao 2) 3.45 pm: The Adonis Factor 3) 6.00 pm: Is It Just Me? More details: 1.45 pm: Ciao Our first film is usually a drama of some kind, and this film is like that, but even the general term drama seems a bit excessive for it. It is one of the quietest, least dramatic films I've seen, that very discreetly, even slowly, lays out one of simply the best acted and most quietly coherent gay films I've ever seen. Ciao's premise might hardly seem much to base a film on. Jeff is a financial analyst working in Dallas who is mourning his best friend Mark, who has just died in a car accident. Jeff is in charge of taking care of Mark's affairs and while he's doing this he realises that Mark was having an online affair with an Italian guy, Andrea, and that he was about to come and see Mark for the first time. Jeff breaks the news of Mark's death to Andrea, and then, on an impulse, invites Andrea to come as planned anyway (the reason for this, which is so prosaic, but realistic in a way one doesn't often see in films, is that Andrea has bought a super cheap ticket that can't be changed). Andrea does, and comes for the weekend when Jeff shows him around Dallas and into what's left of Mark's life. And strictly speaking that's all there is to the film. The two talk, not easily at first, and the reason is not language - Andrea speaks English fine. It's Jeff who really is the one who's not much used to speaking - he keeps things inside himself, partly because that's how he is, and also simply because he's a small town American guy who really seems to have nothing much to say to this really good looking -but in a very realistic way - Italian guy. But Andrea isn't just good looking, he's also charming and warm in the way that seems to come to Italians naturally, and he slowly gets Jeff to open up a bit, and to admit that he was a bit in love with Mark himself - they had been friends since college, had helped each other come out, and were close in the way we sometimes can be with friends. And that he is quietly devastated by Mark's death. Really very little more happens in this film, and I'm warning everyone who's expecting the usual gay drama that this really is a subtle and slow film. But it is really an amazingly well acted one, and it hangs together in a way that a lot of gay films just don't. I was just watching an Israeli one that seemed promising, and then just some daft things happened and you ask yourself how can people make films in such a random way. This film is the opposite of that, to the extent that I did occasionally wish it could pick up more traction. But then I relaxed and appreciated how perfectly balanced and put together it was. It may not be a film for everyone, but if you ever had a friend you were really really close to, and lost, or if you have ever travelled on a chance to see someone you've only known on the Net, or if you've ever found yourself bonding with someone you never expected to know, least of all bond with... this film may be for you. Here's a link from the AfterElton.com reviewer who's even more enthusiastic about it: http://www.afterelton.com/movies/2008/7/ciao 3.45 pm: The Adonis Factor Our second film is usually a documentary, and this is one that will interest a lot of people because it takes head on something we always worry about a lot in the gay community, that we bitch about, and push ourselves about, and resent, and say its not true, yet know that perhaps it is.... which is the extent to which good looks matter for the gay community. Just saying that they do matter and so what doesn't end the discussion. Because then one has to ask what defines good looks - people really can be attracted to very different looks. And then there's the question of how much one is justified in doing to keep one's looks when, inevitably, they start to change with time. And while they do matter, how much do they matter - do they matter for getting quick sex, for being in a party, for being in a relationship, for the way in which one wants to lead one's life? The filmmakers take on all these issues, and with a non-judgmental way. It might have been easy for them to look at all gay men satirically as being looks obsessed, but they show gay men for whom looking good is a compensation for the guilt and humiliations they faced as young gay people. Good looks are a source on confident and pleasure, so why is that wrong? But then there's the question of maintaining them, and the film shows candidly the extreme, even dangerous extent that some gay men go to maintain them - and the toll that this can take on them, both physically and mentally. You're introduced to young gay men who are anorexic, living only on Diet Coke and cigarettes, and older gay men who are Botoxed and pumped with collagen injections - and to the surgeons and cosmeticians who facilitate and even encourage this... The film also looks at other ways of being attractive. You don't just have to be the sort of ultra buffed hunk - there are also people who find bears, older gay men, androgynous gay men attractive, and these viewpoints are also presented. And here lets admit one of the big pluses of this film, apart from the issues being discussed, is, well, by definition, it has a lot of really good looking men, of all kinds, in it. One could just sit back and enjoy the visuals! I will say that by trying to be so open to all views, the film sort of ends up with no particular view of its own. Its a bit of a gay goodlooks tour - here are the bears, here are the bodybuilders, here are the Botox injectors, lets keep moving on, but to what end? Still, just raising the issues is a worthwhile end in itself and this film will keep you talking in the interval after (whcih is when we'll be serving tea and samosas!) Here's the AfterElton review and some clips: http://www.afterelton.com/movies/2010/9/pinkcarpet-review http://www.afterelton.com/tags/the_adonis_factor 3) 6.00 pm: Is It Just Me? Our last film is usually a fun, frothy gay comedy to send everyone home smiling, and this film could not have been made to fit that description better. (Really, while watching these last category films, it makes me wonder if there are many other gay film screenings like GB's around the world, all wanting one fun formula film to finish with!) This one has all the required elements: - cute young guys looking for love: YES - Hunky guys who can be displayed for gratuitious skin shots - YES (in fact, this film manages to weave this character into the plot rather more convincingly than most. The main guy's roommate is this super hunky guy who's a go-go dancer, and his hunkiness is one key reason this plot gets going). - Female best friend - YES. - Snappy dialogue - YES. - Urban locations where no one really seems to have to work - YES. - Happy ending - did you imagine it could be anything else? OK, I'm not going to bother going into the details of this more than just to say it fits the requirement perfectly. More info if you need it from AfterElton: http://www.afterelton.com/movies/2010/8/is-it-just-me-review More details on the time and directions to the venue below. Because of the rain I realise people might come a little late for the first event and I'll be more generous than usual with letting people in late. But once the doors are shut, they are shut. As people who have been to this event know, because the entrance to the hall is close to the screen, people coming in and out are really disruptive, so we are strict about closing the doors after a point, and if anyone wants to go out, you won't be allowed in till the next film. Please don't waste our time and yours arguing with us about this, but just come in time!
