Film

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Film Review: ‘Tom of Finland’

For a couple of years duelling biopics of Tom Of Finland were in the works, but this is the one that finally made it to the screen. The life of Touko Laaksonen is certainly an interesting subject to take on, and there are many ways it could have been done. The route they’ve gone down is to make a fairly traditional, prestige biopic, which is perhaps an unexpected choice for a man who made his name for outsider homoerotic art that defied conventions of both sexuality and class.

The film follows the life of Laaksonen, picking up his tale just after he has been discharged from the Finnish Army following the Second World War (the movie rather bypasses Finland complicated position in the conflict, other than that it was hell for the soldiers and also helped set off Touko’s love of Nazi uniforms). While he had encounters with men in the Army, in post-War Finland, being gay is still about furtive and dark meetings in order to avoid society’s rampant homophobia.

His situation isn’t helped by the fact his judgemental sister, colleague and roommate, Kaija (Jessica Grabowsky), doesn’t know he’s gay and doesn’t want to. Tom begins a secret, long-term relationship with another roommate, Veli (Lauri Tilkanen), but while needing to stay deeply closeted in his own life, he begins trying to find an audience for his stylised, homoerotic image of enormously well-endowed, uniformed men and motorcyclists.

The growing success of his imagery – done under what becomes his brand name, Tom Of Finland – leads him beyond Finland, initially to Berlin, before discovering the ‘anything goes’ world of 1970s California.

It’s an entertaining and well told tale from award-winning director Dome Karukoski. The film has a nice eye for style and history, and keeps the viewer pulled in as it illuminates the life behind the iconic imagery. However, other than some surface observations, those hoping to learn more about exactly what it is about Laaksonen’s imagery that caught the gay imagination and continues to appeal today (despite the proliferation of far more explicit imagery), may be a little disappointed.

That’s because rather than exploring the artistry, it’s more interested in cementing the position of the artist. Indeed, there are moments when the film gets a close to being a filmic essay arguing Laaksonen’s position as a key figure in gay liberation, and not just a guy who drew some prurient pictures decades ago. That’s fair enough, but occasionally it takes this a little too far by pretty much suggesting the whole of gay liberation was down to Tom Of Finland. Indeed, the whole section of the movie after Tom first goes to America doesn’t feel quite as disciplined or satisfying as what went before. That’s partly due to the fact at the start of the movie character underpins everything, which ensures emotional involvement in the prejudice and difficulties Touko face. However, later Laaksonen becomes increasingly secondary to the points the film is trying to make about him and his art.

Even that could have been okay, as he is an interesting case study in how the meaning of the art and the artist can be different things – especially as he ‘hid’ behind a pseudonym – but the movie doesn’t fully address that. Similarly, despite being about the seeming disparity between the closeted life Laaksonen had to lead and the open eroticism of his art, the movie itself is sometimes a little coy about the sexual side of Touko’s life, especially his interest in different fetishes and S&M.

Click here to watch the trailer for Tom Of Finland

The film will probably seem suitably risqué to straight audiences, but gay viewers may feel it’s slightly holding back. Indeed, there’s are argument to be made about whether this film is essentially about the gentrification of an artist whose entire raison d’etre was about the fact that what he drew was so far from the gentry in terms of subject, style and class. Indeed, the movie’s frame of reference ultimately turns him into an oddly establishment type figure.

There are undoubtedly things that are problematic about its rather traditional/mainstream take on its subject matter. Admittedly, dealing with those problems would have probably made it even more of a niche film than it already is, but it leaves a movie that is interesting and entertaining, but feels like its missing some key aspects of its subject. It also gets a little messy in its desire to show that ‘Tom’ was important and not just a footnote in gay history.

Overall Verdict: Well worth a watch and undoubtedly entertaining, even if the prestige biopic format means many key aspects of its subject fall by the wayside.

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Sann Francsico Critics Circle Announces 2017 Award Nominees
SAN FRANCISCO FILM CRITICS CIRCLE
Announces 2017 Award Nominees
Winners Announced via Twitter on Sunday, December 10
The San Francisco Film Critics Circle (SFFCC) announced today the nominees in all categories for their 2017 Awards. Members have combed through the year’s best films to decide on the nominees in each category.

The circle, comprised of critics from across the Bay Area and Northern California, will meet Sunday, December 10 in San Francisco to decide the winners. Winners will be announced starting at 12:15PM PST on the official SFFCC Twitter account @SFFCC or https://twitter.com/sffcc.

Nominees in each category are below:

Best Picture
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
THE FLORIDA PROJECT
GET OUT
THE SHAPE OF WATER
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Best Director
Sean Baker  – THE FLORIDA PROJECT
Guillermo del Toro  – THE SHAPE OF WATER
Greta Gerwig  – LADY BIRD
Christopher Nolan  – DUNKIRK
Jordan Peele – GET OUT

Best Actor
Timothee Chalamet – CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
James Franco  – THE DISASTER ARTIST
Daniel Kaluuya  – GET OUT
Gary Oldman – DARKEST HOUR
Andy Serkis  – WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

Best Actress
Annette Bening – FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL
Sally Hawkins – THE SHAPE OF WATER
Frances McDormand  – THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Margot Robbie – I, TONYA
Saoirse Ronan – LADY BIRD

Best Supporting Actor
Willem Dafoe  – THE FLORIDA PROJECT
Armie Hammer – CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Richard Jenkins – THE SHAPE OF WATER
Sam Rockwell  – THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Michael Stuhlbarg  – CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

Best Supporting Actress
Holly Hunter – THE BIG SICK
Allison Janney – I, TONYA
Melissa Leo – NOVITIATE
Lesley Manville – PHANTOM THREAD
Laurie Metcalf – LADY BIRD

Best Foreign Language Film
BPM
A FANTASTIC WOMAN
FRANTZ
IN THE FADE
THE SQUARE

Best Animated Feature
THE BREADWINNER
COCO
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE
LOVING VINCENT
YOUR NAME

Best Documentary
BRIMSTONE & GLORY
CITY OF GHOSTS
DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME
FACES PLACES
JANE

Best Cinematography
BLADE RUNNER 2049 – Roger Deakins
DUNKIRK – Hoyte van Hoytema
THE FLORIDA PROJECT – Alexis Zabe
THE SHAPE OF WATER – Dan Laustsen
WONDER WHEEL – Vittorio Storaro

Best Production design
BLADE RUNNER 2049  – Dennis Gassner
DUNKIRK  – Nathan Crowley
PHANTOM THREAD  – Mark Tildesley
THE SHAPE OF WATER  – Paul D. Austerberry
WONDERSTRUCK – Mark Friedberg

Best Editing
BABY DRIVER – Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos
BLADE RUNNER 2049 – Joe Walker
DUNKIRK – Lee Smith
THE POST – Michael Kahn
THE SHAPE OF WATER – Sidney Wolinsky

Best Screenplay (original)
THE BIG SICK – Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon
GET OUT – Jordan Peele
LADY BIRD  – Greta Gerwig
THE SHAPE OF WATER  – Guillermo Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI  – Martin McDonagh

Best Screenplay (adapted)
THE DISASTER ARTIST  – Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME  – James Ivory
MOLLY’S GAME – Aaron Sorkin
MUDBOUND  – Dee Rees and Virgil Williams
WONDERSTRUCK  – Brian Selznick

Best Original Score
BLADE RUNNER 2049  – Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch
DUNKIRK  – Hans Zimmer
PHANTOM THREAD  – Jonny Greenwood
THE SHAPE OF WATER  – Alexandre Desplat
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES – Michael Giacchino

Special Citation (for that underappreciated indie gem)
BRIMSTONE & GLORY
COLUMBUS
THE OTHER KIDS

About the San Francisco Film Critics Circle (SFFCC)
Founded in 2002, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle is comprised of critics from around the Greater Bay Area. Its members include film journalists from the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the East Bay Times, SF Weekly, the East Bay Express, the San Jose Metro, Palo Alto Weekly, the San Francisco Examiner, Variety, KCBS, KGO, KSJS, Radio Sausalito, The Wrap and more.

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The Rape Allegation Against Bryan Singer Brings Decades of Whispers to a Head

Director and Producer Bryan Singer is the latest of Hollywood elite to be accused of sexual misconduct. On Thursday, a lawsuit was filed in Seattle against Singer accusing him of raping a 17 year-old male on a yacht in 2003.

Cesar Sanchez-Guzman alleges that Singer forced the then 17 year-old to have oral sex with the director, before Singer penetrated him anally. The lawsuit states that Singer met Sanchez-Guzman at a party on a yacht owned by tech investor Lester Waters.

According to the suit, Singer gave Sanchez-Guzman a tour of the yacht before “Singer lured Cesar into a room, shut the door and demanded that Cesar perform oral sex. When Plaintiff refused, Bryan Singer forced him into acts of oral and anal sex.”

The lawsuit claims Sanchez-Guzman did not know who Singer was at the time, but later in the evening, Singer promised that he could help Sanchez-Guzman launch an acting career if he would stay silent about the incident.

“He then told Cesar no one would believe him if he ever reported the incident, and that he could hire people who are capable of ruining someone’s reputation,” the lawsuit states.

Singer responded to the lawsuit, denying the accusations. His statement references a 2014 lawsuit for similar reasons by Michael Egan, who accused Singer of drugging and raping him after they met at a Hollywood party.

It was one of many the many parties allegedly attended by Singer thrown by convicted sex offender Marc Collins-Rector. After evidence suggested the claims were false, Egan withdrew his lawsuit. Egan later pled guilty to investment fraud, a plea used as ammunition in Singer’s statement

Yet, Egan was not the only person to accuse Singer of sexual misconduct in the past. Also in 2014, Singer was accused of another sexual assault by an anonymous British minor. That lawsuit was also withdrawn.

The earliest allegations against Singer date back to a 1998 lawsuit alleging that Singer forced young extras to strip naked for a shower sequence in his film “Apt Pupil.” That case was also dismissed.

Singer’s behavior again under question in the 2014 documentary, “An Open Secret.” Featuring Egan and focusing on Collins-Rector, the film references Singer, without speaking directly about any detailed accounts.

After a limited release, the producers of “An Open Secret” sought commercial distribution, only to find no takers. “We got zero Hollywood offers to distribute the film. Not even one. Literally no offers for any price whatsoever,” said financier Gabe Hoffman earlier this year. After the Harvey Weinstein saga began, the filmmakers released the documentary on Vimeo.

Even before Thursday’s filing, there were signs that all was not well for Singer. Three days prior to the suit, he was fired as director of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the Freddy Mercury biopic. Reportedly, he was frequently absent from set and stopped showing up all together after Thanksgiving. The production had to shut down while he was away. Singer claimed he was caring for a sick parent only after he was fired.

On Monday, Singer’s long-time publicist, Simon Halls, told the Washington Post that he was no longer representing him without explanation.

It all brings to a head a long-brewing campaign of whispers and suspicions. Many in media at many levels assumed that, at some point, Singer would be swept up in the tide of allegations against powerful men in the entertainment industry, that the past suits and accusations would resurface. They just didn’t know when or from what angle. Many in the in gay community have also spoken quietly or openly about Singer in similar ways.

Indeed, Singer himself had already become part of the conversation thanks to his own statements. When asked by TMZ on Friday whether or not he’d ever work with past collaborator Kevin Spacey again after this year’s revelations surfaced about the actors assault of actor Anthony Rapp, Singer said it would depend on the project. Singer worked with Spacey on “Superman Returns” and “The Usual Suspects,” the film that won the actor an Oscar and the director improved standing in Hollywood.

Subsequently, “The Usual Suspects” co-star Gabriel Byrne has claimed that production on the film was held up due to Spacey’s sexual misconduct toward a younger actor.

Singer is currently still serving as producer in X-Men related film and television franchises and has been announced as executive producer and director of an upcoming television series, “World War III,” and his film “Broadway 4D” is still slated for release in 2018.

The status of these and other projects must now be considered in jeopardy. Much like Spacey, no one is rushing to Singer’s defense after years of whispers. It’s not too hard to imagine that his treatment following Thursday’s news will mirror that given to the actor as well.

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DVD Review: ‘Desert Hearts’

Watching Desert Hearts it’s difficult not to feel a little frustrated. That’s not because of anything in the movie itself. It’s because even 32 year later it still feels so exceptional. A film with a female director and screenwriter – and based on a novel by a woman – is still an unusual thing. A film that’s about the lives of women and not just how they relate to men, is still an unusual thing. A movie that treats lesbian love as a serious thing and isn’t framed by tragedy, is still an unusual thing.

It shouldn’t be that way, but Desert Hearts retains a very special position as one of those incredibly rare movies by women, that doesn’t feel like it’s been co-opted either by the influence of men, or by a need to please the male viewer.

Based on Jane Rule’s 1964 debut novel, Desert Of The Heart, the film follows the uptight Professor Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver), who arrives in Nevada from New York in order to get a divorce. Her marriage has simply run its course and she has decided she needs a fresh start, but in order to get the divorce, she needs to establish residence in the desert state.

Life on a ranch in Nevada is very different to where Vivian came from, and it also brings her intro the sphere of the younger Cay (Patricia Charbonneau), who’s about as close to an out and proud lesbian as its possible to get in the 1960s American west. Cay begins to develop feelings for the New York academic, but for Vivian, admitting she feels something too will need her to open up far more than she is used to.

Desert Hearts is a beautiful love story that’s carefully told and which pulls the audience in as it slowly allows its uptight and cerebral central character to unfold against the background of gambling and ranches that are far different to her city life. Director Donna Deitch has said the genesis of the film was her desire to make a lesbian-themed movie that wasn’t framed by tragedy. She succeeded admirably, instead creating something that takes women, their feelings and their sexuality seriously. It does it in an emotionally grounded and affecting way, and you can certainly understand why it became an instant lesbian classic the moment it was released.

As noted above, it’s also still exceptionally rare, not just smashing the Bechdel Test, but completely reversing things to how they typically are in movies. For example, the male characters are largely adjuncts to help illuminate the women’s stories rather than the other way around. There are several nice, subtle moments where male characters come in and act in dominant, privileged, patriarchal ways (even if they’re not aware that’s what they’re doing), but the movie literally never shifts focus from the women, which allows them to retain the power.

This Criterion release presents a great new HD master of the film, alongside some very worthwhile special features. Desert Hearts super-fan Jane Lynch interviews director Donna Deitch in one of them, where they explore where the film came from and the impact it had. There are also featurettes with new interviews with the main actresses, as well as some of the crew. It’s worth watching all of these features, as each person has a slightly different perspective. If nothing else it gives some interesting insights into the intense and rather famous sex scene between Cay and Vivian, which is still a masterclass in how to shoot women making love in a way that’s erotic and sensual, but never feels like it’s been co-opted by the male gaze.

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Call Me By Your Name Leads Independent Spirit Nominations, With Gay Films BPM & Beach Rats Also Recognised

It’s been a great year for gay-themed movies at the Independent Spirit Awards – the gongs giving out shortly before the Oscars, which acnowledge and celebrate those film made by and released outside the Hollywood studio system. Leading the pack is the acclaimed Call Me By Your Name, Luca Guadagnino’s movie about two young men falling in love in italy in the early 1980s.

It scored six nominations, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Male Lead (Timothee Chalamet) and Best Supporting Male (Armie Hammer).

The Independent Spirit Awards used to largely be a way to celebrate movies that were ignored by the Oscars, for the past few years the winners have been the same (five of the last six Indie Spirit Best Feature winners have also picked up the Best Picture Oscar). That suggest Call Me By Your Name has just taken a big step closer to Academy Award success.

It wasn’t the only gay-themed movie picking up nominations, as Beach Rats was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Male Lead for the excellent Harris Dickinson. The much loved and praised French movie BPM (Beats Per Minute), about the rise of the activist organisation ACT UP in the early days of the AIDS crisis, is nominated for Best International Feature.

Away from the gay front, other films being giving love include Jordan Peele’s hit Get Out, and Good Time, starring Robert Pattinson, which both scored five nominations. Lady Bird and The Rider meanwhile got four apiece.

Take a look at all the nominations below.

BEST FEATURE
Call Me By Your Name
The Florida Project
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Rider

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Columbus
Ingrid Goes West
Menashe
Oh Lucy!
Patti Cake$

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
Dayveon
A Ghost Story
Life and nothing more
Most Beautiful Island
The Transfiguration

BEST DIRECTOR
Sean Baker, The Florida Project
Jonas Carpignano, A Ciambra
Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Benny and Josh Safdie, Good Time
Chloe Zhao, The Rider

BEST SCREENPLAY
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Azazel Jacobs, The Lovers
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Mike White, Beatriz at Dinner

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Kris Avedisian (Story by Kyle Espeleta, Jesse Wakeman), Donald Cried
Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick
Ingrid Jungermann, Women Who Kill
Kogonada, Columbus
David Branson Smith, Matt Spicer, Ingrid Goes West

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Thimios Bakatakis, The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Elisha Christian, Columbus
Hélène Louvart, Beach Rats
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Call Me by Your Name
Joshua James Richards, The Rider

BEST EDITING
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Good Time
Walter Fasano, Call Me by Your Name
Alex O’Flinn, The Rider
Gregory Plotkin, Get Out
Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Salma Hayek, Beatriz at Dinner
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Shinobu Terajima, Oh Lucy!
Regina Williams, Life and nothing more

BEST MALE LEAD
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Harris Dickinson, Beach Rats
James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Robert Pattinson, Good Time

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Holly Hunter, The Big Sick
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lois Smith, Marjorie Prime
Taliah Lennice Webster, Good Time

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Nnamdi Asomugha, Crown Heights
Armie Hammer, Call Me by Your Name
Barry Keoghan, The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Benny Safdie, Good Time

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
Mudbound
Director: Dee Rees
Casting Directors: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram
Ensemble Cast: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan

BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Departure, Lana Wilson
Faces Places, Agnés Varda, JR
Last Men in Aleppo, Feras Fayyad
Motherland, Ramona S. Diaz
Quest, Jonathan Olshefski

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
A Fantastic Woman
I Am Not a Witch
Lady Macbeth
Loveless

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Film Review: ‘Heartstone’

The Icelandic movie Heartstone arrives in the UK fresh from a very successful festival run, where it impressed audiences and picked up over 30 awards. That’s not bad for a movie from a country with a population of just 332,000 people. That’s about the same as the city of Coventry. Despite its size, it has a surprisingly thriving film industry, to the point where a large chunk of the population must spend at least part of their time making movies – and surprisingly good ones.

The film follows a group of teenagers in a remote fishing community. It’s a place where they’re left to their own devices a lot of the time, as parents are either absent or ill-equipped for their role in shaping young minds. The focus is Thor (Þór – Baldur Einarsson), who’s on the point where he’s frustrated his body is developing as fast as some of his friends, but he’s certainly becoming more interested in girls. His best friend is Christian (Kristján – Blær Hinriksson), with the two of them pretty much inseparable.

Set across one summer, Heartstone charts the duo’s evolving lives, as they move from boyhood into manhood and begin to look at the world in different ways. Thor pursues one of the teenage girls – unsure what to do, but increasingly keen – while becoming less tolerant of the bullying of his older sisters. Christian meanwhile has developed feelings for his best friend, but isn’t sure what to do about it or what his friend may think. His dilemma is graphically illustrated when his father gets into a fist-fight with a man who might be gay – this is not a place where it appears being LGBT is a possibility. But at least Christian has Thor. Or does he?

Director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson has created a very delicate movie. It’s a coming of age film interested in the hard edges of the cusp between childhood and maturity, when the self-centred outlook of a child is forced to realise the effect they have on others, that life can be hard – and at times scary – and that being a carefree kid can’t last forever. It’s a film that has some extremely dark moments as it teases out the growing tumult underneath these remote lives.

I do wonder though whether a gay and a straight audience will view it slightly different. The focus is on Thor and his pursuit of a girl, as well as him dealing with changes he doesn’t really understand in his friendship with Christian, and the first pressures of adulthood. It’s seriously and delicately handled, with a real empathy for a young man trying to deal with the world despite having relatively little proper guidance.

However, to my eyes it is Christian’s story that is the stronger one, as he realises he’s gay in a remote community that isn’t equipped for difference or supporting people through emotional distress. Christian must deal with a homophobic, abusive father, as well as coming to feel that perhaps his unbreakable bond with Thor isn’t a steadfast as he’d assumed, and that he is ultimately completely unmoored. That leads to some very dramatic and dark events.

Click here to watch the trailr for Heartstone

I couldn’t help but feel that this should be a film about Christian, both because his tale is more powerful and because towards the end by ignoring him and focussing on Thor, it bypasses some of the biggest issues it raises. However, I do wonder if I felt like that because I empathised with Christian so strongly (I know all about growing up gay in the middle of nowhere), and whether a straight audience would react differently.

Click ere to watch the trailer for Heartstone

By focussing on how Thor reacts to the events that have happened, it does undoubtedly have its own power – forcing the young man to face himself, his culpability and who he will be as an adult. It shows how a lack of thought or a small rejection can have massive repercussions for someone who’s struggling. Even so, I still wanted to find out what was happening with Christian more than Thor, but perhaps a straight viewer would feel differently – and considering the ecstatic notices it’s received at mainstream festivals from Venice to Toronto, it would seem they do.

Don’t get me wrong, the way the film focusses itself certainly isn’t a deal-breaker. It’s more a minor frustration amidst what is otherwise a beautifully told, and well-acted coming of age tale, that doesn’t shy away from some of the darker aspects of life. It is admittedly quite long, but this allows it to take the time to build its world – a remote life that is simultaneously very familiar and very alien. That twist on the ideas and themes of the coming of age film – where teens are the same as they are everywhere but facing situations very specific to the community they live – allows it to look at things with fresh and unsentimental eyes, but still with great empathy.

Overall Verdict: A powerful, sometimes shocking coming of age tale. Gay viewers may wish the focus wasn’t quite so much on the straight teen, but it’s still a careful, delicate and beautifully told tale of the trials of growing up.

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Film Review: ‘Hidden Kisses’

16 year old Nathan (Bérenger Anceaux) is the new boy at school, and unbeknownst to him his arrival stirs up some very definite feelings in his classmate Louis (Jules Houplain).  When the two of them are at party at the weekend Louis makes his move and kisses Nathan in a deserted spot in the garden.  They are however not totally alone, and when an anonymous  photo suddenly surfaces online next day Nathan starts to feel the heat.  It is not clear which boy he is kissing, but that doesn’t stop all his homophobic classmates verbally teasing him, and eventually a few of the boys physically beat him up very badly.

Nathan lives at home in this small suburban French town with his Police Captain father Stephane (Patrick Timsit) who is horrified when his son comes out to him, and the two who were previously very close, start to drift apart.  However when Nathan is attacked, Stephane comes to his senses and starts to support Nathan in his quest to pursue the object of his affection.

Meanwhile Louis who has been dating Laura (Lisa Kramarz) for a year now has very confused feelings about his sexuality, and is so ashamed of his feelings for Nathan that he joins in with the other boys when they violently pummel him. Louis’s own father  (Nicolas Carpentier ) is a strict disciplinarian and when eventually the news breaks that Louis is in fact the second boy in the infamous photo, all hell lets loose.

The situation is not helped by the school’s headmaster who insists on sitting on a high moral fence refuses to support Nathan for fear of a backlash from what he claims are the conservative parents.  It causes the closeted female maths teacher to out herself, and along with her straight ally friend, insist that he tackles the homophobic bullying before it gets anymore out of hand.

This rather charming French coming -of-age movie directed by Didier Bivel from a script  by  Jérôme Larcher  was originally made for TV,  but it so deserves the wider audience that it will get now with its digital release. With compelling performances form the two young leads, this is a very realistic and sympathetic take on a a very serious subject which is a real and dangerous problem for LGBT youth everywhere.  This one has a happy-ever-after ending, but far too  often stories like this  end in tragedy.

 


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Film Review: ‘Romeu & Romeu’

 

A very young set of Brazilian filmmakers have very loosely adapted Shakespeare’s classic love-story Romeo & Juliet and made it a contemporary queer romantic drama.  This web series was also set in the fictional Italian city of Verona, and is now where the Campelos and Monteiros families have vehemently hated each other for generations after a major falling out.

Openly gay Romulo (Arthur Chermont) falls for Ramon (João Mesquita) from the family he is supposed to hate,  who it turns out isn’t straight after all. Ramon shares his grandfather’s diary that he has just discovered which reveals the fact that original fight was over his gay lover and just a case of inherent homophobia which has been conveniently forgotten through the years.

In fact as the story unfolds it seems like one by one half of the characters let us know that they are gay too, although most of them have issues about it.

This DVD which contains the first six episodes of the series focuses on Romulo and Ramon getting to the point where they can acknowledge their feelings, and although they have to hide it from both families, they embark on a relationship together.

There is also an intriguing side plot as 24 year old Romulu has been diagnosed with the little known disease Precocious Parkinson which very few young people get.  Facts about how it is treated and its effects are carefully woven into the plot to help  overcome the prejudice and lack of understanding that most people have.

The series co-created and co-written by its two young stars and is directed by Jonathan Mendonça and was a major success in Brazil where it picked up several awards. It is a very cute and sentimentalized  love story played out by these very charming and extremely watchable young men, and has a cozy feel-good factor about it.

The first episode is stiff with some very wooden acting from the adults of the piece, but stick with it as it does get better. With its small budget and less-than-perfect production values, this is hardly like a big Shakespearean movie, but it is nevertheless an easy-on-the-eye series that will appeal to any queer hopeless romantic.

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Berlin & Beyond Film Fest Happens in SF Nov. 9-11

On November 9th, 2017 at the Roxie Theater in the Mission and on November 10th and 11th at the Goethe-Institut in Downtown San Francisco, America’s premiere festival of contemporary German cinema kicks off its 22nd season! The Autumn Showcase is presented in anticipation of the main 22nd edition of the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival (February 2018), and as the cinematic part of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the Goethe-Institut San Francisco with its series of cultural and community events this autumn.

The Autumn Showcase will feature the interactive film event The Verdict, the exhilarating Berlin film Tiger Girl, a night dedicated to Fritz Lang, a special encore screening of the 2017 Berlin & Beyond Film Festival Audience Award winner Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe, and Switzerland’s 2018 Academy Awards® entry The Divine Order.

SCHEDULE

Thursday, November 9th at the Roxie Theater:

6:30 PM – THE VERDICT (TERROR – IHR URTEIL)
Directed by Lars Kraume (120 min. including discussion. Germany. 2016)
Based on Ferdinand von Schirach’s “Terror”: Can it be justified to shoot down a civilian plane, converted by terrorists into a deadly suicide missile? This legal thriller tests the fundamental values of Democracy. US West Coast Premiere

9:15 PM – TIGER GIRL
Directed by Jakob Lass (90 min. Germany. 2017)
An exhilarating ride with Vanilla and Tiger, two girls struggling to fend for themselves in a city where free spirits are constantly broken by the world around them. Northern California Premiere

Friday, November 10th at the Goethe-Institut: Fritz Lang Night

6:00 PM – FRITZ LANG
Directed by Gordian Maugg (104 min. Germany. 2016)
Filmmaker Fritz Lang seeks inspiration for his first sound film by immersing himself in the case of serial killer Peter Kürten.

8:30 PM – M (M – EINE STADT SUCHT EINEN MÖRDER)
Directed by Fritz Lang (107 min. Germany. 1931)
A child murderer is on the loose in Berlin. The members of organized crime increasingly feel disturbed by the manhunt conducted by the police.

Saturday, November 11th at the Goethe-Institut:

5:15 PM – STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE (VOR DER MORGENRÖTE)
Directed by Maria Schrader (106 min. Germany/Austria/France. 2016)
Austria’s 2017 Academy Awards® entry: As a Jewish intellectual, Zweig struggles to find the right stance towards the events in Nazi Germany, while searching for a home in the new world. Encore Screening of the 2017 Berlin & Beyond Audience Award – Best Narrative Feature Gala

7:30 PM – THE DIVINE ORDER (DIE GÖTTLICHE ORDNUNG)
Directed by Petra Volpe (96 min. Switzerland. 2017)
Switzerland’s 2018 Academy Awards® entry: A young housewife challenges the status quo by fighting for women’s suffrage in 1971 Switzerland. San Francisco Premiere

TICKETS

Roxie Theater screening – per ticket: $13.00 general; $12.00 senior / student;
$11.00 Berlin & Beyond member

Goethe-Institut screening – per ticket: $10.00 general / senior / student; $8.00 Berlin & Beyond member

Double Feature “Fritz Lang” & “M” ticket set: $15.00 (no further discounts)

Festival Pass (all 6 films + priority entry): $60.00 general / senior / student; $50.00 Berlin & Beyond member

Tickets for Roxie Theater screenings: roxie.com/ai1ec_event/berlin-beyond-verdict/?instance_id=22324

Tickets to the Goethe-Institut screenings and the Festival Pass: brownpapertickets.com/profile/98451

Official Website: BerlinBeyond.com

Social Media:
Facebook.com/BerlinBeyond
Twitter.com/BerlinBeyond
Instagram.com/BerlinBeyond
YouTube.com/BerlinBeyond
#BerlinBeyond
#BBAutumnShowcase

BERLIN & BEYOND FILM FESTIVAL

Since 1996, Berlin & Beyond Film Festival has been the leading festival of contemporary German cinema in the Americas, and has presented over 500 motion pictures, along with the presence of celebrated film figures, including Fatih Akin, Moritz Bleibtreu, Daniel Brühl, Hannelore Elsner, Florian David Fitz, Bruno Ganz, Maria Schrader, Barbara Sukowa, Wim Wenders. Including seasonal programming, Berlin & Beyond receives a combined attendance of over 12,000 people annually. The main 22nd Edition of the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival will take place February 9-11, 2018 at San Francisco’s iconic Castro Theatre, along with other dates and venues to be announced this autumn. berlinbeyond.com

GOETHE-INSTITUT

The Goethe-Institut is Germany’s official cultural center comprised of 159 institutes in 98 countries. The Goethe-Institut exists to promote art and films from Germany, the study of the German language, and encourage the international cultural exchange with Germany. Celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2017, the San Francisco branch has been promoting German culture and language since 1967. Its year – round cultural activities include art exhibitions, film screenings, and special events with local cultural institutions. goethe.de/sf

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Outwatch Film Festival Review: “Saturday Church”

When 14 year old Ulysses’s (Luka Kain) father suddenly dies, his mother (Margot Bingham) has to take on a second job to make ends meet. She somewhat reluctantly accepts an offer from Ulysses’ ultra-conservative Aunt Rose (Regina Taylor) to come to take care of him and his younger sibling after work until she gets home. The teenager is in the throws of discovering his sexuality and identity, and when Rose finds out he has been secretly trying on his mother’s shoes she doesn’t let up on him for one single moment.

On a whim he takes himself off on the subway to the West Village and after wandering around aimlessly for hours stumbles on a small group of friends who befriend him and persuade him to join them at Church.  This is not for any religious service but is for the weekly LGBT drop-in center in the crypt where they get a meal and support.

As each of his new young friends share their (mostly unhappy) stories of how they got to this stage of their lives, their sense of optimism and empowerment starts to gradually effect Ulysses, and he starts making regular trips to the Church every Saturday night.

He is still being bullied at school and Aunt Rose keeps up her meanness, but now encouraged by his very first group of friends to consider entering an upcoming Vogueing competition, the young teenager happily buys himself a rather wicked pair of studded stiletto shoes.  However when Aunt Rose is spying in his bedroom, and discovers them, an almighty row breaks out ending up with Rose throwing him out.

He immediately flees to the Church, but as this is midweek there is no sign of anyone and so left to his own devices he ends up at a homeless shelter where his shirt gets taken, and next day on the streets he gets picked up and loses his virginity.

This cute and compelling coming-of-age tale which does have a realistic and conclusive ending is by no means a new story, but its take on it is refreshing and innovative.  It is aided by the fact that openly gay newbie filmmaker Damon Cardasis turned this into a hybrid musical with catchy original songs accompanied by some impressive choreography.

The central performance from its young star is totally stunning with his wonderful sense of innocence and abandonment, and it is what really makes this drama feel so authentic and so extremely watchable.

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