Between 8 and 11 May the film gallery K-Suns hosted the third annual LGBT Film Days in Riga. This event is being organised by me personally in co-operation with a few embassies and foreign cultural representations. Needless to say, an absolute majority of Latvian institutions do not wish to have anything to do with this festival. But hey, I am an optimist - the only way is up!
A total of 26 films was shown - 7 full length feature films, 3 documentaries and 16 short films divided into two programmes - You & Me and Colourful World. To my surprise, the biggest audience magnet turned out to be a German documentary about Indian hijras - Between the Lines/India's Third Gender. Well, maybe I should review it sometime soon then!
This year's poster (as well as the one last year) was designed by Paul Sixta, a Dutch multimedia artist and filmmaker. And this is what it looks like
The film days were opened with "Keillers Park", a Swedish thriller which I reviewed here some time ago. The film's director, Susanna Edwards came to Riga in this connection and presented it to the audience. And this is what she looks like
And here both of us are standing in front of the cinema where all the films were screened
Principal cast: Steve Sandvoss, Wes Ramsey, Reb. Johnson, Jacqueline Bisset.
Homosexuality and religion have always been a troubled tandem, to say the least. While in the past homophobia used to be an undisputed and integral part of the institutionalised religion or rather its officially preached dogma, today the issue seems to be splitting entire churches right in the middle. But then again - there are churches openly debating the issue and there are those trying to silence it to death. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormons, certainly doesn't belong to the former group. But can it stay in the latter category forever?
Elder Davis (Aaron to those few who know him personally) is sent from his native Idaho to Los Angeles to spread the Mormon faith together with three other guys. They move into a flat in a residential area from where they are to launch their soul-saving operation. Things become a little awkward when they realise that their closest neighbour is Christian (an interesting choice of name, I might add), an openly gay and flashy party queen who is in no way intimidated by his new residential entourage. He soon lays his eyes on the pretty boy Aaron and even makes a bet at work (surprise, surprise – he works in a trendy downtown restaurant owned by a former Hollywood actress) that before long he’ll get him into bed. Aaron, who is intrigued by this apparently completely uninhibited and oversexed apparition that is Christian and evidently not so uninterested himself, falls into a trap masterminded by the latter so that Christian almost succeeds in his endeavour. But only almost, because Aaron is quick enough to realise that he is about to become just another one of Christian’s uncountable conquests. And that is definitely not what he wants, especially because he is in fact still a virgin. In disappointment, he calls him “a walking, talking marshmellow Peep” and walks away. Under normal circumstances Christian would probably just shrug it off but he doesn’t seem to be able to get Aaron out of his head and becomes determined to prove that he is more than he appears to be on the outside by volunteering for an early morning home delivery service for a housebound AIDS patient. Eventually, his determination seems to pay off with regard to Aaron but as the two of them are about to have an intimate moment, Aaron’s missionary mates happen to walk in on them.
In most cases, being found out this way causes embarrassment and a great deal of initial panic, especially if you weren’t planning on leaving the closet as yet. However, if you happen to be a Mormon missionary, this turn of events has dire consequences. Aaron is immediately sent home and subsequently excommunicated by his own hard-faced and unforgiving father while his mother can’t even look him into the eyes. Homosexuality is one of the worst sins you can be accused of in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints and if you don’t seem to be set on “praying the gay away”, you actually may end up in a clinic where they give your penis an electric shock treatment while they force you to watch gay porn and put you in a bathtub filled with ice until you literally turn light blue. As outrageous as it is, this treatment is in fact still practised in certain clinics in the US to turn people, especially youngsters, straight. Alas, this gruesome fate also befalls our Aaron. And there is only one thing that helps him survive the rejection of his family and the torture in the clinic – the love that he and Christian share.
According to many gay people who come from a Mormon background, the portrayal of the Mormons and their ways in this film is convincing and realistic. As I lack firsthand experience myself, I can only shudder at the thought that there seem to be so many religions in this world which in the name of their dogmatic teachings are ready to maim people physically and mentally because they don’t seem to fit these very same dogmatic teachings. Somehow, the words “Jesus loves you” cannot but sound utterly and ultimately meaningless and devoid of any relevance in this context. Unfortunately, the brainwashing that these religions do still keeps many a tortured soul trapped in a limbo that is hell on earth. And I’m not so sure they will have a reward for their pain in an afterlife.
“Latter Days” is not a masterpiece of cinematography. In fact, it is at times fairly cheesy and badly acted, especially when it comes to the use of religious symbolisms throughout the film which have made my toes cringe. But it is a heartfelt and convincing attempt to liberate many of these trapped souls that are still out there trying to undo the harm done to them by the “loving and caring” religions. And as such it is priceless.
Principal cast: Rouxnet Brown, Shaun Smyth, Neil Sandilands, Kristen Thomson.
John Greyson's ability to create aesthetically pleasing films in somewhat unconventional ways has always been accompanied by his unquenchable desire to speak up against the injustices of this world. While the issues of AIDS and human rights for homosexuals comprise the main bulk of his work, "Proteus" addresses an even broader range of issues including colonialism and racism which are, still, closely related to homophobia and fight for the universal right to love whoever it may be that you fall in love with, regardless of the gender and colour of the object of your affection.
The film is based on a true story about the fate of Rijkhart Jacobsz, a Dutch sailor and Claas Blank, a black native of South Africa who had assumed a Dutch name. Their story was dug up in the archives related to the infamous Robben Island prison just off shore from Cape Town by Jack Lewis, the script’s co-writer and a South African human rights activist who was adamant that it deserved the attention of a broader audience. The records found in the archives were from 1735 and when carefully studied, they suggested that the pair had been together for at least ten years prior to being convicted of sodomy at the height of the “sodomy panic” which had gripped the Netherlands at that time. In 1730, 70 people were executed in Amsterdam alone for “crimes against nature and mankind” which meant nothing other than that they were gay men, either caught in the act or named by others under torture. South Africa being in the hands of the Dutch settlers protected by the colonial Dutch army apparently succumbed to the same wave of witchhunting. What caught the attention of Jack Lewis was that the record of their trial didn’t contain any references to what they both were and what it was that they had together. It was indeed love that didn’t dare speak its name and Jack Lewis decided that it was about time for it to speak. It took about 7 years of raising funds for the project and carrying it out in collaboration with John Greyson, and the result was a poetic, yet angry film about love versus prejudice and intolerance, humanity versus barbarity.
It isn’t random that the events take place on Robben Island, for it was also there that Nelson Mandela was sent to serve his life sentence in 1964. The film’s authors took a creative approach to drawing parallells between the two eras incorporating elements of the 20th century into what is essentially an 18th century drama. The court’s clerks look like they are taken directly out of the 60’s with their beehive perms and heavily framed glasses. The main sadist among the prison guards is wearing a contemporary uniform. And the bloodthirsty Boer settlers wearing 18th century outfits go chasing after one of our protagonists in a jeep. The mixture of period elements is, of course, fully intentional. And it only emphasises the continued relevance of the film’s message today. In 2008, homosexuality is still punishable by death in Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. And one can only speculate whether courts in these countries still follow the Dutch 18th century practice of sending the bill for the executions on to the families of the executed.
The story begins to unfold when Claas Blank is brought before the court after being captured by a local Boer settler and accused of stealing his cattle. Due to lack of evidence he is acquitted of these charges, but is still sentenced to 10 years of hard labour on Robben Island for simply opposing a white settler. On the island, he encounters Rijkhart Jakobz who has ended up in prison after having been caught copulating with another man. Eventually, the two are drawn to each other and start a relationship which they must protect from the watchful eyes of their fellow inmates at all costs. However, their sexual encounters are soon discovered by Virgil Niven, a Scottish botanist who has come to South Africa to study and give names to the different species of Protea, a genus of flowering plants specific to the Cape region first discovered by European botanists in the 17th century. Commissioned by the legendary Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist Carl Linnaeus, he enlists the help of Claas Blank who provides him with Bushman names for the plants and tells him about the local beliefs connected to these plants, otherwise known as sugarbushes. Virgil Niven, who has a wife and a child in Amsterdam, is in fact just another example of a gay man doing what is required of him in front of the society while struggling with his true sexuality. He, too, harbours feelings for Claas Blank but is unable to do anything about it, so he remains just an observer, albeit an active one, of both his own inevitable demise and that of our imprisoned pair.
It was purely coincidental that the former South African Prime Minister and architect of apartheid, Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd suggested that protea be included in the new design of the South African flag, thus almost becoming the country’s national symbol the same year as Nelson Mandela was sentenced to a life in prison. However, it wasn’t random that Virgil Niven was studying these beautiful flowers and giving them names in the film. He named one of the species Protea Blankia, thus paying a tribute to his secret infactuation with Claas Blank who in return said the words which were very central to the film’s message – “I’m proud to be a name”. In all essence, he was saying - I’m proud to have a name, I’m proud to have an identity. It was a clear recognition of him as a human being and his dignity as a human being. Earlier in the film, Virgil explained to Claas not only the new system of nomenclature which Carl Linnaeus had introduced in botanics but also the distinguished scientist's racial classification which consisted of five categories - Africanus, Americanus, Asiaticus, Europeanus and Monstrosus. The “monstrous” humans included not only mythological creatures like the dwarf of the Alps and the Patagonian giant but also the "monorchid" Hottentots, the African people of whom Claas was one himself. Hottentots (now known as Khoikhoi) were basically considered just a more developed form of apes, and Virgil was even quick to point out that they had a Hottentot’s skeleton with horns on display at the Museum of Natural History in Amsterdam. Shockingly, this worldview has still survived among some fundamentalist Christians in South Africa and beyond. In all essence, their point is that since the only humans on Noah’s Arc were white, all the black people must have derived from the apes!
This kind of marginalisation and dehumanisation is also known all too well in connection with homophobia which is still fairly rampant across this planet. “Proteus”, although poetic in tone, is full of outrage and a powerful reminder to all of us why we have to continue our fight for the human rights of all people and that we still have a long way to go before we all “have a name”. Needless to say, Linnaeus eventually changed all the names for the different species of protea invented by Virgil Niven. In a manner of speech, this film restores the name of Protea Blankia to its rightful owner.
Pricipal cast: Ohad Knoller, Yehuda Levi, Assi Cohen, Aya Steinovitz.
Homosexuality is an explosive subject in most armies around the world. In some cases, just as explosive as the conflicts many of them are involved in. Different armies don’t necessarily share the same level of discussions when it comes to this topic – while different sections of the British army have quarrels regarding their possible participation in this or that Pride parade, the US army still (at least, officially) finds it a valid reason for an immediate discharge. However, the question of gay men in the military is by no means anything new. Nor has it always been a taboo. In ancient Greece, there even existed an army unit which went under the name of the Sacred Band of Thebes which exclusively consisted of homosexual couples. It was considered an elite force and the reasoning behind its formation was that lovers would fight more fiercely at each other’s sides. But while homosexuality in ancient Greece was nothing that people in general frowned upon, the attitudes changed, arguably, with the advent of Christianity when not just homosexuality but any sexuality at all was suddenly considered a sign of impurity of soul and body.
The plot of „Yossi & Jagger” revolves around an Israeli army unit on the border with Lebanon. Yossi, the platoon commander is a serious looking man in his late 20’s, demanding of his subordinates, but reasonable. One of these subordinates, Lior, is very much the opposite of his commanding officer – cheerful, somewhat childish and with the looks and behaviour of a rock star, hence the nickname „Jagger”. An ordinary army unit with the same palette of professional soldiers and recruits from all walks of life as in other such units. Nothing extraordinary on the surface. Only Yossi and Lior have a secret that they closely guard – they are lovers. While Yossi finds it unimaginable to change the way things are with Lior, the latter is growing tired of the secrecy in which their love is kept. Lior is looking forward to leaving the army and taking Yossi with him – to a life where they no longer will have to hide their relationship, where they can book a hotel room in Eilat with a kingsize bed rather than joining two single ones. But while Lior is adamant that Yossi must quit the army and embrace the freedom of civilian life, the latter isn’t quite prepared to leave his whole previous life behind him. Things get even more complicated when Yaeli, a young female soldier (yes, also women serve in the Israeli army) decides to conquer Lior at any cost. This doesn’t go down well with another soldier, Ophir, who’s been in love with Yaeli all along. Rather than realising that Lior has no interest in Yaeli’s advances, he sees in him a competitor. Yaeli also tells Yossi of her intentions seeking his advice since she sees him as Lior’s close friend. Neither of them can tell the truth – the Israeli army isn’t very different from other armies, also here homophobia is an institutionalised part of the daily routine. But fate has another solution in store for all the parties involved. A colonel arrives, and after indulging in pleasures of the flesh with another female soldier, he announces that the unit is to set up an ambush later that night. Needless to say, things don’t go exactly according to plan.
Eytan Fox’ first long feature film „Yossi & Jagger” is in many ways a continuation of the theme which he started exploring in his debut short film „After” (aka „Time Off”) which came out in 1990. Although, the ban on homosexuals in the Israeli army was lifted already in the mid-eighties, it still must have been a controversial choice for a young filmmaker to challenge the issue of masculinity (read: men’s sexuality) in the army in a country where the military plays such a vital role in its existence. The short film received a Jury Award at the Munich International Festival of Film Schools, but would probably not resurface later was not for the international success of „Yossi & Jagger” which convincingly put Eytan Fox not only on the world map of the gay-themed cinematography but also did a great job presenting Israel in a completely different light – can Israel be such a monstrous place as some claim if you can get away with making a film about a gay love affair in the army and then proudly show it around the world? Wouldn’t that just make them look weak and ridiculous in the eyes of their enemies? That may be so – we all know what the mainstream Arab world has to say on homosexual relationships – but I will claim that one’s strength is only real if it can withstand any attempts of being ridiculed. And it looks to me that Israel has passed the test.
However, another question arises in this connection. Were the ancient Greeks correct in their assumption that homosexual couples fighting side by side would make fiercer warriors or is there any substance to the claims that homosexual relationships in the army would demoralise the soldiers’ readiness for combat? Actually, this debate reminds me of another one – that from the world of sports. Every now and then it emerges in the news that a football coach has banned his players from having sex the night before an important game, if not for a whole week prior to the event. While I for one have the feeling that such practice would rather make the players more frustrated than single-minded in their footballing efforts, I honestly believe that when it comes to gay men in the army, the whole question is simply discussed under false premises. All armies are comprised of individuals whose attitude towards service and whose performance are determined by their professionalism and motivation. This applies to all, regardless of their sexuality. To believe that gay men can’t be „real” soldiers and that their sexuality would jeopardise an army’s performance is to say that gay men can’t be professional. And this doesn’t even deserve a comment.
Here is a musical tribute to the film by the popular Israeli singer Ivri Lider (in English)
Principal cast: Nathan Lopez, J.R. Valentin, Soliman Cruz, Ping Medina.
Preadolescent sexuality, especially if it veers from the mainstream, is most often surrounded by a lot of hysteria. People who otherwise come across as balanced and rational suddenly seem to lose all their critical faculties. Any interest in this topic will more likely than not lead to, at least, a few eyebrows raised in suspicion – why this “unhealthy” interest? It’s one of those few taboo questions which have been left standing barely touched in our otherwise fairly open-minded age. However, the topic in question is the background of “The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros”, a neorealist Filipino film which has now been a successful part of the international film festival circuit for the past couple of years. Several critics have pointed out that had the film’s main protagonist been a 12 year old girl, this film would probably not have made it outside of the Philippines. They might be right. But it’s the fact that it’s this aspect of the film that obviously makes it “interesting” internationally that is poignant in itself. Preadolescent queerness as just a matter of fact seems to be a pretty big deal in most societies across the globe.
Maximo, a 12 year old boy, lives in the slums of Manila with his father and two older brothers who earn their living by selling stolen mobile phones and other easily disposable consumer goods. The opening scenes of the film, set against the popular and recently deceased Filipino singer Yoyoy Villame’s song “My country, the Philippines”, introduce us to these slums in an almost documentary style - decaying buildings, piles of rubbish, dirty sewages. In the midst of all the misery a hand picks up a beautiful flower. It turns out to be Maximo’s hand and the flower immediately becomes an ad hoc ornament on his head. Swaying his hips and generally balancing his fragile body in a fashion which would make a few professional models rethink their next catwalk moves, he graciously parades through the narrow alleys and backyards of Manila’s underprivileged inhabitants. His dressing style and body language aren’t the only things that set him apart from his surroundings in these slums or anywhere else for that matter – his interests and home chores aren’t very typical for a 12 year old boy. At home, he does all the cooking, sewing and cleaning for the whole family while his free time is spent in the company of his like-minded peers organising pretend Miss Universe beauty pagents (all in drag) and watching romantic films on DVD. Since his family can put him to a better use at home, he has now stopped attending the school. This doesn’t bother Maximo much though. He seems to be enjoying his life and while realising that he is different from most of his peers, he seems to be fully accepted by his family and surroundings – nobody bats an eyelid at his rampant queerness, let alone tries to do anything about it. His family adores him and his neighbours seem all to be on friendly terms with him. One day, however, he is assaulted by a local youth gang whose only objective seems to be “to have some fun” at his expense. A rookie cop, Victor, comes to his rescue and takes him home. Life will never be the same thereafter.
Maximo falls head over heels in love with this new officer of the law which presents a real problem for his family. If there is something they don’t need in their lives, it’s to be exposed to a policeman who doesn’t seem to go with the flow at the otherwise fairly corrupt local precinct. To make things even worse, one of Maximo’s brothers commits a murder while attempting a robbery, and with the arrival of a new police chief, who has a few scores to settle with Maximo’s father, things get completely out of hand. In the midst of all this drama, there is Maximo and his first taste of a romantic involvement. He is effectively split between loyalty to his family and his feelings for Victor. Unfortunately, there are no fairy-tale endings in the brutal world of Manila’s slums - only premature adulthood. Still, Maximo hasn’t blossomed fully yet. His rude awakening to the cruelties of the world surrounding him hasn’t killed the scent of the flower he has put on his head.
“The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros” is not just a film about a queer kid in the hood and his gutshaker of a first love. It is also a depiction of life in the slums. Despite the fact that Maximo’s family can’t be described as law-obeying citizens of the local community, their portrayal is rather nuanced in that they are shown as both loving and caring – there is nothing monstrous about them at all. If anything, you can only pity them and their choice of lifestyle. One gets the feeling that it hardly was their first choice. The police eventually crack down on this family with all its might, but somehow you don’t feel that justice has been served, rather on the contrary. Maximo’s initial purity of heart could all but survive this “justice”, but the film’s authors don’t want us to believe it’s gone either. There must always be a light at the end of the tunnel and we also get to see a glimpse of that.
Maximo’s queerness at 12 is what sets this film apart from other similar neorealist depictions of the life of the underprivileged in a third world country. At the same time, nowhere in the course of the film is it made the focal point of the story. This is simply the way things are. Period. That in itself is a refreshing aspect of this film. Maximo doesn’t get killed or maimed. If anything, he is loved and protected. He falls in love with Victor – the problem isn’t that he falls in love with a man, it’s that the man in question is a cop. Even Victor himself seems to accept the fact that the kid has a crash on him. He only distances himself from Maximo when he is forced to cross swords with his family. And despite all that happens he seeks to reestablish their previous friendship afterwards. There is no doubt that Maximo’s obsession with Victor is homoerotic, but it is portrayed almost in religious terms – both when they both pray on their knees in church and when Maximo washes blood off Victor’s wounded body. We are shown the purity of the first love. And also its intensity. The fact that it’s homosexual is in all essence just a piece of background information in this film. And that’s the way it should be in an ideal world.
Here you can watch the film's trailer
A special tribute to the recently deceased Filipino singer Yoyoy Villame. Here you can listen to his song "My country, the Philippines" which is part of the film's soundtrack.
Principal cast: Sabrina Kruschwitz, Julia Kaufmann, Nadja Engel, Christian Kirste.
Growing up is never easy, especially if you feel alienated from most of your peers. For some people friendships from their childhood and/or adolescence will continue unhindered also in their adult lives while for others it may never work out that way. Puberty brings about a few changes – in one’s perception of what’s cool and what’s not, what matters and what doesn’t, but especially it changes one’s perception of the surrounding people. Slowly but steadily they become sexual beings and one’s own sexual awakening inevitably leads to a reassessment of one’s hitherto so relatively uncomplicated friendships. „Alpha” males start having fights over girls and cheerleader types have their own quarrels over guys. This is perceived by most societies as the „normal” adolescent behaviour and it is also expected that you start to take an active interest in the opposite sex when you reach a certain age. But what do you do when you fall in love with someone of your own sex on top of having your general teenage confusion about everything else? What do you do when the person you are madly in love with has been your best friend since the early grades in school? Kirsi Liimatainen’s first long feature film „Sonja” tries to deal with the complexity of not just leaving the childhood world behind and entering adult life but also a teenager’s growing realisation of not having the „mainstream” sexuality in a world full of patterns to be followed and expectations to live up to.
Sonja, our 16 year-old protagonist, lives with her divorced mother in one of those parts of Berlin which many Germans call „Trabantenstädte” – endless grey blocks of flats built by the former government of „workers and peasants”. The blocks look dreary and so do the people living in them. Ordinary grey people in ordinary grey blocks with ordinary grey (more in mood than in colour, though) GDR-era wallpaper. The local lads seem to be preoccupied with cars and dating girls while the local girls mostly seem to be reading magazines about finding a boyfriend and evaluating the options at hand. Sonja is no exception as such. She hangs out with the other girls and even has an „official” boyfriend, Anton. Nor is there anything strange or rebellious about her clothes or hairstyle. Just an ordinary girl who doesn’t stand out in any particular way. But there is something wrong. She doesn’t understand what it is and why, but nothing feels right. She much prefers the company of her best friend Julia and finds her having to spend time with Anton suffocating. She isn’t very interested in the magazines’ tips. And she doesn’t find it all that exciting to sneak into guys’ rooms after curfew at a local sports camp. She constantly quarrels with her mother and hardly ever replies when other people approach her (which isn’t that uncharacteristic for a moody teenager, of course) but then she blossoms up when she is in Julia’s company. All of Sonja’s body language indicates that she is drawn to her and that she sees in Julia a lot more than one would in just a friend. Girls being traditionally allowed a greater intimacy with each other in Western culture won’t encounter many scornful looks or ugly remarks walking hand in hand publicly or having slumber parties. One can say that Sonja takes advantage of that in a way because Julia doesn’t find it strange that her best female friend sleeps in the same bed as she at the sports camp while drawing imaginary circles on her naked back, calls her the most beautiful girl in the world in the shower and is generally very straightforward and consequent in her flirting with Julia. One night she even reads love poetry to her. And although Julia is fairly responsive to Sonja’s attention, there is always this invisible line which Sonja doesn’t dare to cross. At the same time, Julia constantly flirts with guys and even occasionally snogs them in front of Sonja who, unsurprisingly, feels very jealous but is unable to do anything about that. This, naturally, only adds to her frustration and confusion.
At one point, Sonja is sent to the Baltic Sea coast to visit her father. She is supposed to go there together with Julia, but plans suddenly change. Julia has just lost her virginity and has no interest in deserting her new-found boyfriend. Sonja will have to face her father’s family alone. Before leaving, she had split up with Anton. All they had ever tried was kissing and now that Julia has taken the step from being a girl to becoming a woman (at least, in the traditional sense), she feels that she has been left behind in more than one way. She is also very confused about her feelings for Julia and how „appropriate” they are. Maybe her emotions will change if she gives herself to a man? She makes an awkward attempt at „awakening” heterosexuality inside her by letting herself be seduced by a neighbour. Inevitably, this experience only confirms what she hasn’t dared to acknowledge until now – that she is in love with Julia and that she is lesbian.
„Sonja” is based on Kirsi Liimatainen’s own experiences growing up in her native Finland and her first love, unreciprocated like Sonja’s. She also grew up surrounded by dreary housing and fairly ordinary people, where „a man is a man and a woman is a woman” as Sonja’s father postulates at one point at the dinner table. It can be very difficult (if not to say, rather dangerous for one’s health) to come out as a gay man or a lesbian woman in such an environment, but the fact is that one can more often than not leave this environment and seek a broader-minded community elsewhere. One’s coming-out process towards the outside world is very important, but what’s even more important is being able to come out to oneself. The road that leads to the understanding and subsequently acceptance of one’s own sexuality is not a motorway, it’s rather like a narrow path in a thick forest where you have to fight your way through the unhospitable bushes and intimidating branches hanging low from the cold and unforgiving trees. And the unfortunate truth is that for the most part you have to walk that path on your own. Sonja’s feelings of not fitting in and being alone with her confusion are far from being unique in any way. They say that road to hell is built on best intentions – the intentions of one's parents, friends and the society one lives in. And their intentions are usually "to straighten you out" which will only make your path through that forest even harder to walk. Alas, this still applies to most parents, „friends” and societies on this planet. At least, that seems to be the case.
„Sonja” is a warm film about a cold world. It is also a rather slow and thoughtful film. A great part of the dialogue is in fact body language which shouldn’t really surprise anyone since the director is Finnish and the settings are German. The acting is very convincing and realistic, although I believe that for the most part it comes from the fact that the actors don’t really have „to act”. Portraying an „ordinary” German girl shouldn’t be very difficult for somebody who herself can be described as an „ordinary” German girl. And the same goes for the other characters in the film. In fact, they seem so ordinary that it feels like you’ve met them yourself sometime just passing through those dreary blocks of flats in East Berlin or anywhere else in Europe. In this respect, it reminds me of another German film, „Nachbarinnen” („Neighbours”). The beauty of them both lies not in grand settings or a riveting drama, but the simplicity of the complicated. Enough said.
Here you can watch the film's trailer from Picture This!
Principal cast: Tae Sattawat, Yu Fa Yang, Tang Jan Gang.
Asian films are generally difficult for me to review since I’m not very familiar with Asian culture. In this case I’m also slightly puzzled. Had this film been made in the West, I probably wouldn’t even review it as I would just file it under „Crap”. However, this film seems to be very popular among gay youngsters in Asia and I can also definitely see why. To begin with, it’s a comedy. If you’re Asian and want to see anything gay-related which is also produced in Asia, in most cases you’ll have to settle for a drama. And Asian dramas are not a laughing matter, although in some cases you would think they were. Secondly, this film openly displays very camp and often barely dressed twinks who occasionally sing, dance or simply parade around in swimming trunks. I don’t think any of the Asian countries have produced many „eye candy” films targeting the male gay audience. And for that alone „Go Go G-Boys!” must be given some credit. I find it very encouraging for the whole region that such films are produced at all. I must also admit that this film gives a rare insight (if only roughly) into the Taiwanese gay subculture of today. And that’s always worth something.
The plot (if we can call it that) evolves around a gay beauty contest called simply G-Boy (yes, in English) and its contestants (whom even the blindest people wouldn’t confuse with straight blokes). While most of them are gay, two join for other reasons. A-Hong’s life is in jeopardy because his girlfriend has worked up a significant debt with the local mob which they strangely enough demand from him, so he joins hoping to win the prize – 10 million Taiwanese dollars (roughly 200,000 EUR). His best mate A-Shin (who is gay) camps him up and also joins the competition. Needless to say, A-Shin has been madly in love with A-Hong since their childhood together and is willing to do anything to help his friend. The other „fake” is Jay, an undercover cop whose worldview seems to have been inspired mostly by action films and anime cartoons and who happens to look very much like the other twinks who’ve joined the competition. Call it a coincidence! Jay volunteers after anonymous death threats are sent to the contest hoping to mimick some of his favourite action heros. However, most of the action in this film is reserved for the relationship between A-Shin and A-Hong who eventually discover their true love – each other. We don’t even get to know who wins the contest in the end. I guess the point is that true love is the winner.
„Go Go G-Boys!” must be following in the footsteps of some sort of Chinese slapstick comedy genre. It is filled with situation comedy elements which are funny enough if you completely disregard the acting (or rather the lack thereof) and if you try to imagine what it must be like being gay in Taiwan (although it must be a lot better than in mainland China, it seems). For example, in one scene the father of one of the contestants arrives from the country with two chickens, which is obviously a great embarrassment to his son, and eventually finds him in bed with another guy. Earlier in the film he was trying to convince his son to start thinking about marriage, now he ends up teaching this other guy (whom he’s no doubt already seeing as his soon-to-be inlaw) how to make a stew with chicken legs. Funny enough, if you think about it!
This film seems to be targeting an audience whom Joey from „Boy Culture” (see my previous review) would call „stage 1 fags” and who according to him „are not slutty hoping to find this perfect boyfriend who’s also not slutty” for about a year after they come out. And although there isn’t anything wrong with that as such, this film has a total soap opera ending to it which I’m not sure even the most romantically inclined among us would find more plausible than most story lines from „Santa Barbara”. But who knows? Maybe this is the sort of ending that is appreciated by the film’s audience in Taiwan and other parts of Asia.
The Taiwanese gay subculture presented in the film seems very effeminite. Everybody looks like a doll and just a personification of campness. Yet, there are numerous references to "Brokeback Mountain" (isn’t Ang Lee from Taiwan originally?) and "The Lord of the Rings". At one point both even collide in a dream. I believe it has always been easier to accept homosexuality in these cultures if the homosexual man behaves and dresses like a woman. Lady boys in Thailand and hijras in India have been traditionally tolerated largely because of this aspect. It seems a lot more difficult to accept a man who behaves and dresses according to the traditional understanding of what men are supposed to be like being gay. I believe this must also be the case in Taiwan. It’s easier to make a camp comedy with exaggeratedly camp, doll-resembling guys than a comedy with ordinary blokes from around the corner. I also believe that campness in itself is perceived as funny. The same way as Mr. Humphries was funny to most people who watched „Are You Being Served?” back in the 1970s. It seems that „Brokeback Mountain” has been sneaked through the back door in this film just to underscore that. And although there is nothing wrong with camp boys in camp comedies (I must admit I quite enjoy them myself), the problem is that it doesn’t do much other than lending a hand to the survival of the cliches about gay men.
"Go Go G-Boys" can be recommended to those of you who would enjoy watching barely dressed Chinese twinks kissing and singing in a camp comedy. It won't rock your world but it will be like having a nice dessert at the end of your meal. To the others I can only say - don't bother!
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