Film of the Week
The Wizard of Oz - *****
(1939, USA, Victor Fleming and King Vidor)
I have a secret. Despite appearing in countless theatre productions of the Wizard of Oz as a kid, I had never actually seen the film version! I know they will not let me in the gay club if they found out! I am sure you are all aware of the storyline so I want to focus on the gay undertones of the film. Obviously there is the Judy Garland connection and the Lion is as camp as a row of tents, but I think there is a wider relevance and reflection on the current lifestyle of gay men today. The colourful land of Oz reflects a gay world; the lack of courage, brain and heart can nowadays reflect the Vauxhall or Circuit Boys and I could go on forever with the relevance of this film. The special effects are nothing compared to today's attempts but that does not matter. This is a superb musical and I am someone who is not a huge fan of musicals (once again, do not tell anyone that!).
Other Films
Persona - ****
(1966, Sweden, Ingner Bergman)
This is the definition of European Art House Cinema. A 'classic' which revolves around the changing volatile relationship between a nurse and her patient, an actress who has become mute. The film starts with the nurse delivering wonderful monologues to her patient which becomes personal and damaging. As the film develop, we learn that the actress is studying the nurse and is exposed to pretending to be mute. It is a classy heavyweight film that is visually superb even if the story becomes sluggish towards the end.
North Sea Texas - ****
(2011, Belgium, Bavo Defune)
This film is a coming-of-age gay story set in rural Flemish Belgium. It manages to differentiate itself from usual European coming-out stories, such as Presque Rien, as the film focuses more on the relationship with his mother and his boyhood love, Gino. This film was moving and beautiful which depicts well the extent of rural poverty as well as the vile mother. There were touching moments, like when he wears his mother's clothes. The developing sexual relationship with his best friend raises interesting questions about what extent young teens 'experiment' or are they really bisexual but society shapes us to be heterosexual. This film is not as stunning as any Xavier Dolan film, but a credible debut and I will look forward to his next attempt.
21 Jump Street - ****
(2012, USA, Phil Lord and Chris Miller)
After last week's Channing Tatum disaster film, I had little confidence in this week's offering when 21 Jump Street arrived. I had never heard of this film, which shows how isolated and snobbish I am about the Hollywood Blockbuster. I was more than presently surprised. Other than the eye candy Channing offers, this was a funny, if sometimes over the top comedy when two guys who were of different social circles at high school become best friends when training to become police cops. They are asked to go undercover to tap some drug dealers in a school where a mistake causes them to swap social circles. it is over the top in parts but I laughed out loud more than I expected. This film also shows Channing can act and I really hope he trys and do something a bit more indie.
The Idiots - ***
(1998, Denmark, Lars Von Trier)
The Idiots was the second film to achieve the Dogme 95 status - a punkish European method of film making focusing on the realism of the acting, scenery and directing as a back lash to the Hollywood Blockbuster. You can see how the style of this film has influenced a number of Foreign art house cinema as this film's appearance is realist and your focus is solely on the acting and story. And what a story it was.
It tells the story of a group of anti-establishment individuals that go around making different people uncomfortable by pretending to be people with severe learning and mental disabilities. However, as the film develops, their actions get out of hand. At first I was offended by their behaviour but eventually saw what their aim was - to highlight the hypocrisy society has around disabled people. However, at times this film was hard work and intentionally difficult to watch. This is one of those films that make you feel emotions and stays with you for a few days as it is so disturbing at times. Films are art and should make you feel emotions, which this film easily does. However, this film was a little uncomfortable for me to ever watch this again.
Ten Canoes - **
(2006, Australia, Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr)
An anthropological film about original aboriginal society which has featured highly within world cinema circles. I feel this is partly due to the lack of aboriginal language films out there. At times, this film gets slightly tedious and the narrator's story telling feels very fragmented. however, the one factor that saves this film is the stunning pictures which benefits from the black and white format.
The Seminarian - **
(2010, USA, Joshua Lim)
A disjointed tale of a gay guy who is writing a thesis on love and God in a fundamentalist Christian College. I am afraid this film had too many flaws for me to enjoy it. Apart from the accepted wooden acting due to the low budget, the whole story was just bits of different story line shoved together in one film. Despite the main character, Ryan, being out to two friends and no family, he seemed quite happy and content rather than paranoid in the closet. He had quite an overt gay identity, there is one scene where he is visiting his dad's grave with his mum and she is wearing 'camp' clothes, i.e. skin tight top, and is mincing towards the grave. Of course, there is nothing wrong with gay men being feminine, but if you are trying to hide your sexual identity, this is not the way to go. I just felt there was no repression considering his environment. Eyes Wide Open and Latter Days does this theme a lot better. I am afraid this is one to avoid.
No comments:
Post a Comment