First, thank you, Adam, for starting this thread. When I first posted last night I just wasn't in the mood to even attempt writing anything articulate. I'm not good at film reviews even though I started 'cutting my film teeth' in the late 1960s with (as well as Hollywood) underground, avant-garde, experimental and european film. (Yes, I was in art school, k?) Probably the first film to break my previously established Hollywood hymen was Kenneth Anger's
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (original 1954, the version I saw, 1966). So Warhol, Fellini, Bergman, Antonioni, Truffaut, Polanski… etc. … I watched them all.
It may be sad to say but somewhere along the line I became less and less interested in 'film' as art. This isn't 100% true but close. I still watch a lot of movies but, oddly enough, I'm now more interested in the absurd or silly, or anything that takes me away from (so called) "reality". Even as a kid I had a penchant for the spectacle (I can't tell you how many times I watched "The Ten Commandments," and "Forbidden Planet" back in 1958). So, oddly enough, today I'm more apt to watch some sci-fi fantasmagoria than not.
But, ok, "Free Fall." I think what bothered me about it most was the lack of any sense of 'morality' or consequence. I really felt sorry for the pregnant wife, to be honest. There was something about the seduction going on between the two male protagonists that just felt, I don't know, 'disturbing'. For sure it was passionate, well acted, scripted, filmed, etc. But what lesson do we come away with about all this? I'm frankly not sure. Not that a film has to have a 'moral compass or lesson' necessarily but in our current historical context where gay men and women are fighting for social recognition and equal rights under the law, I don't know, it just felt a bit angst ridden and 'counter productive' to me. Maybe it is a cultural thing (the film is German), not sure. In any case, I watched it, came away from it with a sort of meh-grumble, and didn't even give it much thought beyond that.
Another recent gay themed film is "Pit Stop," which I'll recommend to you. It is a *very* slow moving film and can seem tedious. Since it is set in a small Texas town, the closeted environment of the main characters may feel down-right tortuous to those of us who are more "urbane" gays. But it is well done and seems (to my mind) to have the kind of 'soul' that "Free Fall" lacks. There are very human interactions, struggles, and, eventually, resolutions that don't lave you crying in your hanky. The ending, while not unrealistically 'happy', is nevertheless hopeful.
I don't know how familiar you are with gay themed films, Adam… Titles I can recommend are: "
Boy Culture," "
Lilies," and "
Latter Days." There are many others, of course, but those always come 'off the top of my head.' I also liked "
C.R.A.Z.Y" and "
L.I.E.." They may not all be available streaming but I assume they can be gotten on disk.
I agree with tywait re "Stranger by the Lake." In some ways it was interesting and 'revealing' about the kinds of 'lets go fuck in the
brambles' cruising spots that gay men have been visiting since forever. Not my cup of tea (IRL or film) so I didn't even bother watching it all.
N E Way, thanks again for starting this thread. If anyone knows of any great gay film, let me know here.
OH…. I almost forgot. One film that almost NO ONE has seen (and for understandable reasons) is
Blue Citrus Hearts. I may very well be the only person (outside those who made it) who has not only endured it but actually liked it. Forewarning: This is not a professionally made film AT ALL. But oddly, perhaps due to my growing up in southern Indiana coupled with my early interest in underground film, I found it refreshing. The sound quality SUCKS, the acting is AWEFUL, the cinematography is ATROCIOUS, the editing is BIZARRE (one minute the trees have leaves, the next minute they don't). In short, this film is barely even watchable. BUT… damn it, the young people (mostly teenagers, I assume) who made it really poured their little hearts into it and it shows.
Netflix and Gay Cinema
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Capricorn
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Virgo
