28 March 2013

Fishbelly White (1998)

Fishbelly White (1998)

Director: Michael Burke
Writer: Michael Burke
Genre: Short movie
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 22 min
Year: 1998

Stars: Mickey Smith, Jason Hayes, Todd Batstone

 

 


"Fishbelly White" chronicles the rural isolation of childlike Duncan (Mickey Smith), who's been lonely since his mother's death. Because his care-worn father ignores him, Darren befriends the farm animals and adopts a chicken as his pet. Abused by his own father, an older adolescent named Perry (Jason Hayes) takes a shine to the outcast. Proclaiming they aren't gay, Darren and Perry suppress a mutual attraction that would outrage Perry's macho friends.

 

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27 March 2013

Ties (2008)

Ties (2008)

Director: Baldvin Kári
Writer: Baldvin Kári
Genre: Short movie
Country: USA, Iceland
Language: English
Duration: 6 min
Year: 2008

Stars: Corey Boardman, Eric Schneider

A friendship between two teenage boys is challenged when one of them crosses a line.
3rd Prize at Reykjavík International Short Film Festival 2008

 

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26 March 2013

Elliot Loves (2012)

Elliot Loves (2012)

Director: Terracino
Writer: Terracino
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2012
Duration: 92 min

 

Stars: Elena Goode, Robin de Jesus, Erin Fogel, Jermaine Montell, Guillermo Iván, Will Bethencourt, Joshua Cruz, Fabio Costaprado, Monte Bezell, Rafael Sardina

 

 

Slatka, slojevita filmska priča o mladom Dominikancu Eliotu, njegovom odrastanju sa majkom koja bezuspješno pokušava da nađe ljubav svog života i kako se to kasnije odražava na Eliotovu potrebu da nađe srodnu dušu.
Eliot svoje avanture upoređuje sa majčinom bespoldnom potragom za čovjekom svojih snova koja ga je često ugrožavala dovodeći lijene pa čak i uvrijedljive ljude u njihov dom.


Film je na momente komičan, naspram tragičnih scena iz Eliotovog djetinjstva pa to malo ruši kontinuitet u gledanju jer se teško emocionalno prebacivati iz jedne priče u drugu, ali u svakom slučaju ordžaće vam pažnju do samog kraja.
Eliot vidjevši kako majčini snovi ne vode nigdje pokušava da definiše sebe na potpuno drugačiji način i da nadje nekoga sa kim če podjeliti slične poglede na zajednički život.
Pri tome upada u razna razočarenja, nailazeći na čovjeka pored kojeg se probudi u društvu njegovog dečka ili na gogo 25-godišnjeg momka koji je jako mlad za zaljubljivanje i slično.
Vjerujem da će mnoge gejovce podsjetiti na njihove proživljene avanture u potrazi za nečim što se definitivno ne traži po internetu ili klubovima sa dark room, dark drink i dark seks provodom.


Mene je podsjetio na jednog momka iz Beograda. Upoznao sam ga u porno bioskopu "PARTIZAN". znate već to je jedan od onih prljavih i mračnih mjesta gje u muklom mraku, tobože gledajući pornić, drkate kurac u društvu silueta oko vas. Bilo je tu i seksa kao u današnjim Dark room prostorijama, ali uglavnom se sve završavalo samo na drkanju.
Nakon jednog takvog pražnjenja jaja izađem na svjetlost dana i krenem prema gradu. Momak sa kojim sa drkao kurac u bioskopu mi priđe i predstavi se. Predložim da odemo na piće i tako se upoznamo.
Viđali smo se narednih 5-6 dana svakodnevno, izlažeči po klubovima, pivnicama, picerijama ili naprosto šetajuči gradom i povremeno se jebali u javnim WC-ima, parkovima ili bi naprosto ušli u neku zgradu ili prolaz, spustili se u podrum i tu se kresnuli ostavljajući iza sebe pune kondome.
Nakon nekoliko dana on mi predloži da odemo kod nekog njegovog prijatelja i tamo se pojebemo zajedno sa njim. Odemo tamo , lik onako mršav i neurotičan ponudi nas kafom. Posmatrao sam njih dvojicu kako izvitopereno pričaju i shvatih da ja ovog momka sa kojim sam provodio vrijeme uopšte ne poznajem, a i dio koji sam mislio da poznajem je bio potpuno pogrešan.
Osjetivši se kao slon u staklarskoj radnji izvinim se i odem iz tog stana.
Naprosto kad se jebeš s kurcem, a ne sa čovjekom, ne traži ljubav ili srodnu dušu.

http://www.biggaypictureshow.com/bgps/2012/11/elliot-loves-dvd/

 

 

Elliot Loves explores the turbulent love life of Elliot throughout two pivotal parts of his life, as an inquisitive 10-year-old dealing with his loving yet seemingly unhappy mother and as a naive 21-year-old looking for love in all the wrong places in New York.
The initial concept of the film intrigued me I must admit, especially as I was wondering how they would mirror the two separate parts of his life. The way it was executed by cutting segments into what appeared to be chapters and by mirroring similar and important parts of his life as a child and young adult were done effectively and allow the audience to see how the character was the way he is.
The character of Elliot himself is a very intriguing one, as we have all either been in his position or know a friend that has been there. By this I mean an extremely naive young person looking for love in all the wrong places before they finally realise you don’t find love, love finds you.
The film is funny in parts, and bittersweet and sad in others, but the scenes in the past have to be given credit as the better parts of the film. This is mainly due to the acting from Quentin Araujo as the young Elliot and Elena Goode as his mother, as they make you laugh and feel sympathy for the characters. These are without a doubt the stand out performances of the film.
Other good points of the film include the way it was shot, as it is softly focused and looks romantic in many key parts. The music also adds to the emotions of the film. One of my personal favourite parts is the animation scene, which allows them to do things they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to and it breaks the film up a bit.
However it isn’t all good, and unfortunately the bad definitely outweighs them. At the very beginning of the film I initially thought, “What the hell is this?” as it starts off a bit hammy. Even though it gets better, the present day scenes always fall into the hammy, trying too hard to be funny category, and as we all know, when you try too hard it just isn’t funny. Much of the dialogue and scenes could have been cut or shortened, as a few parts feel like they’ve been on for around 20 minutes, despite actually only being on for about five.
One major problem I had with the film is how it tries to flit between being a comedy and being a tragedy. This almost made me lose focus and interest many times. If they had made it a complete tragedy about someone looking for love and failing, or made it a comedic take on this the entire way through the film, it would have worked a lot better.
Overall Verdict: The film is ok in parts but the bad just outweighs the good. If it had been executed a little better and stuck to one theme then it would have worked a lot better.
Reviewer: Lewis Shepherd

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24 March 2013

Wall (2010)

Wall (2010)
El Muro ( Original title)

Director: Juanma Carrillo
Genre: Short movie
Country: Spain
Year: 2010

Stars: Juan Caballero, Tadeo Dietz

~ Ja te ne volim!
~ Jer si kukavica!

Waiting, craving, listening, downing....Miguel wants to hear what Peter has to say.

 

20 March 2013

Wasteland (2013)


Wasteland (2013)
Director: Marco van Bergen 
Genre: Short movie
Country: Sweden 
Language: Swedish 
Duration: 13 min 
Year: 2013

16 March 2013

I Want Your Love (2012)

I Want Your Love (2012)

 

Director: Travis Mathews
Writer: Travis Mathews
Genre: Drama, Erotic
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 71 min
Year: 2012

 

Stars: Jesse Metzger, Brontez Purnell, Ben Jasper, Keith McDonald, Jorge Rodolfo

 

 

Holivudski glumac Džejms Franko kritikovao je Australiju, jer je zabranila prikazivanje američkog filma sa gej temom ''I Want Your Love'', nazivajući takvu odluku sramotnom.
Australijski odbor za selekciju filmova smatra da su scene seksa u filmu previše eksplicitne i nije dozvolio da bude prikazan na predstojećim Filmskim kvir festivalima u Melburnu i Brizbejnu, prenele su agencije.
Franko, koji je najpoznatiji po ulogama u trilogiji ''Spajdermen'' i ''Planeta majmuna:početak'' rekao je da odrasli treba da sami odaberu šta će da gledaju.
- Ne znam zašto je danas, u ovo vreme, film koji govori o ljudskosti zbranjen. To je sramotno i nadam se da će odbor promeniti odluku - rekao je glumac.
Sporni film govori o mladiću koji je homoseksualac u San Francisku, a režirao ga je Trevis Metjuz.

Iskreno pogledao sam ovaj film i mislim se ne radi o pornografskom filmu bez obzira na eksplicitne nesimulirane  scene seksa. Da li je prikaz uvlačenja kurca u nečije dupe ili usta neophodan kako bi nam prikazali emotivno stanje i karakter glavnog lika u filmu? U ovom filmu se za takav potez može naći opravdanje jer prikazuje nam različite strane ličnosti tokom seksa i nakon seksa.
Definitivno nam tokom seksa instikti i nagoni preovlađuju u odnosu na razum. Uostalom ko još može razmiščljati o svrsishodnosti sopstvenih postupaka dok mu je nečija kita u ustima ili dupetu?

cinemaautopsy.com

The début narrative feature film by Travis Mathews has received considerable attention in Australia for the wrong reason. Scheduled for Australian festival screenings in February, March and April, I Want Your Love has been refused the film festival exemption that it requires to be publically screened as a non-classified film within Australia. This exemption has been refused by the Australian Classification Board on the grounds that were the film to be formally classified it would be given an X18+ rating due to it containing explicit sex scenes without a narrative context. This is effectively stating that the film is closer in tone to pornography than narrative cinema, and it is therefore banned from being screened in most Australian states, including at film festivals to discerning adult audiences. What is most unfortunate about this decision is that not only is the graphic sex in I Want Your Love crucial to conveying character information and therefore part of the narrative, but the film is overall an excellent work by a talented emerging filmmaker.

I Want Your Love should be receiving attention for announcing the arrival of Mathews as a new voice in realist cinema. Coming from a documentary background, Mathews delivers a fly-on-the-wall look at the lives of a handful of gay men living in San Francisco over one weekend. At the centre of the narrative is Jesse (Jesse Metzger), a performance artist in his early thirties who is moving back to the family home in Ohio. He is holding a going-away party in the apartment he shares with close friend Wayne (Wayne Bumb), who is unsure about whether it was a good idea to have his boyfriend Ferrin (Ferrin Solano) move in. While putting on a brave and optimist face for his friends, Jesse confides his doubts and concerns to his neighbour Keith (Keith McDonald), an older man who is also an artists and serves as something of a mentor and father figure to Jesse. One of Jesse’s biggest concerns is moving away from his ex-boyfriend Ben (Ben Jasper). Similarly to Andrew Haigh’s outstanding Weekend, I Want Your Love uses its focused time period and small cast to express and explore some of the aspects of modern gay identity without attempting to be a definitive work. It is an unapologetic film that doesn’t attempt to dilute or ‘introduce’ the viewer to a segment of society that is not usually depicted in cinema beyond stereotypical or tokenistic inclusions.

With tight framing and a small ensemble of actors with the same name as the characters they play, this is an intimate work that attempts to express interior thoughts and emotions. From a distance the characters are all confident and expressive, freely discussing their feelings and desires. On this level alone I Want Your Love is an enjoyable 70 minutes in the company of a likeable group of people, but the film really shines when it shows us what is happening beneath the surface. Often actors are filmed in close-up to capture the small gestures and expressions that undermine what they are saying. Under the surface emerges a picture of people at various crossroads in life who are no longer sure about what they are doing, who they are with and even who they are. In this sense Mathews’s film is thematically universal and part of a long tradition of actor driven character pieces that incorporate a documentary aesthetic.

Where I Want Your Love pushes boundaries is the way it uses unsimulated sex to further express the status of the relationships and state-of-mind of the characters. Michael Winterbottom did something very similar in the 2004 drama 9 Songs, where the actors having sex on camera was used to communicate the evolution of their affair. I Want Your Love is perhaps even more successful in appropriating actual sex away from pornography and into narrative cinema since there is a better sense of the non-sexual scenes flowing on into the sex scenes. The transitions are far more seamless and draw less attention to the fact that the audience is watching unsimulated sex. It’s a bold innovation that non-pornographic films have experimented with since the late 1960s, more frequently in the past fifteen years. While cinema has never shied aware from exploring sexuality, even during periods of intense censorship, there is a rawness and honesty to depicting real acts of sex that opens up new ways of understanding the role sex plays in the everyday life. Without coyness, sensation or titillation, unsimulated sex is a refreshing way of exploring love and desire in a way that previous approaches to sex on film have not been able to achieve.

While there is a campaign for the Australian Classification Board to overturn the refused exemption status for I Want Your Love to allow for festival screenings, Australian audiences can still legally view the film via the film’s official website. It would be a shame if this impressive film did not receive the audience it deserves, especially considering how rare actual sex-positive films are. The irony of the situation is that far less graphic films that nevertheless perpetuate reductive sexual stereotyping and objectifying are commonplace and widely available. Films like I Want Your Love that explore aspects of sexuality and human connectivity with such affection and lack of judgement, are a rare gift that should be celebrated and not shunned.

Thomas Caldwell, 2013

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15 March 2013

The Wilding (2012)

The Wilding (2012)

Director: Grant Scicluna 
Writer: Grant Scicluna (screenplay) 
Genre: Short movie 
Country: Australia 
Language: English 
Duration: 15 min
Year: 2012


Stars: Reef Ireland, Luke Mullins, Frank Sweet, Shannon Glowacki, Richard Anastasios





Priča iz zatvora za maloljetne osobe u kome je Malkom suočen da bira između uvjetnog otpusta ili da zaštiti druga u kojeg je zaljubljen. Kako se bliži vrijeme otpusta svađe u zatvoru eskaliraju sve češće, a vrhunac svega je kada grupa zavidnih nasilnika počne da maltretira Tya, sa kojim je Malkom u ljubavnoj vezi. Da li nijemo posmatrati kako ti maltretiraju nekoga koga voliš ili ga zaštiti po cijeni onoga što svaki zatvorenik naviše priželjkuje - slobodu?!
Odlično napravljena kratka priča u kojoj je izbjegnut svaki stereotip o feminiziranim uplašenim pederima, nesposobnim da opstanu i brane se u mačističkom društvu.





A story of sacrifice for love, The Wilding follows Malcolm, a hardened borstal inmate, who’s in love with his cellmate Tye. As Malcolm faces an opportunity for parole, a feud with other inmates escalates, with Tye being targeted as Malcolm’s weak spot. Malcolm is forced to choose between his own freedom and protecting the one he loves.
Most short films are mini-movies in themselves. They often suffer having been crammed into such a short space. It is very difficult for filmmakers to convey enough in 15 minutes: something usually falls short, be it narrative or character development.
The Wilding, on the other hand, is a brief glimpse into a story which has been running before you arrived, and will continue long after you have left. It is a window into somebody’s very existence: the narrative is his life, and these are just a few events that occur within. A fleeting glimpse, like crossing a river, you experience just a small part of the waterway, but are acutely aware of its full might.
This is raw Australian filmmaking at its best. Combining the visceral brutality of Romper Stomper and the gritty terror of Chopper, The Wilding holds its own against films of this caliber, while still shocking those numb to their effects.
The fly-on-the-wall camera style, while very rarely distracting, serves to heighten the realism and tension as you become part of the story. In an instant you are there. It is no longer a film, they are no longer actors. You are in the borstal, present at each event, every fight, every suspense. It is electric and it is terrifying.
It is refreshing to see a gruff fighter as a confident gay man. There are no camp stereotypes here, no mincing and no effeminate voices. Malcolm is a brute, a ruffian. His moments of tenderness are subtly detectable under a coarse exterior. The acting is mesmerising.
Even the corrupt and manipulative warden has enough of the cliches to satisfy the audience’s need for familiarity, but Scicluna still turns the stereotype on its head. While his methods and means are questionable, his motives are clear: the warden has Malcolm’s best interests at heart.
With enough breathing space in each scene for you to imagine what is going through the minds of the characters during each event, the action is still a hostile assault on the senses. Your skin will ripple with goosebumps as Malcolm’s determinedly satisfied stare cuts through the warden, time slowing to a grinding halt leaving the question: ‘Why?’
Love. That’s why.
Overall Opinion: Given the brevity of the film, its ability to invoke shivers and spark adrenaline surges is incredible. Your eyes will be wide, pupils dilated, too transfixed to look away; too involved to even blink. The unsteady camera serves to heighten the realism, fueling the rush as you are transported there, and put into danger. The tribal portrayals are brutal, the romance as delicate as it can be in such a setting. How can a love story be so horrifyingly chilling and heart-warming at the same time? This is a gripping masterpiece.
Writer: Adrian Naik
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14 March 2013

Maurice (1987)

Maurice (1987)

Director: James Ivory
Writers: E.M. Forster (from the novel by), Kit Hesketh-Harvey (screenplay),James Ivory (screenplay)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Language: English
Year: 1987
Duration: 140 min

Stars: James Wilby, Rupert Graves, Hugh Grant

 

 

 

Maurice je film iz 1987. godine, snimljen po istoimenom romanu E.M. Forstera. Priča o gej ljubavi s početka 20. vijeka u Engleskoj, prati život Maurice Halla od njegovih školskih dana nadalje.

Film, u produkciji Merchant Ivory Production i Channel Four Films, režirao je James Ivory, a producirao Ismail Merchant. U glavnim ulogama su James Wilby, Hugh Grant i Rupert Graves. U sporednim ulogama se pojavljuju Denholm Elliott, Simon Callow, Billie Whitelaw i Ben Kingsley.

Radnja filma odvija se prije Prvoga svjetskog rata, kada je homoseksualnost bila zabranjena u Britaniji. Dvojica studenata s Cambridgea postaju bliski prijatelji, a zatim jednog dana jedan prizna drugomu da ga voli. Iako ga isprva odbije, Maurice (James Wilby) ipak prihvati Cliveovu izjavu te želi fizički iskazati svoje osjećaje. Clive (Hugh Grant) želi da njihova ljubav ostane platonska – aristokrat je koji je od malih nogu naučen potiskivati osjećaje i, više od svega, boji se da ih ne otkriju i ne stave na stup srama.

Ubrzo se vrati ustaljenoj tradiciji te se oženi. Maurice je očajan. No tada upozna Scuddera (Rupert Graves), lovočuvara na Cliveovu posjedu, te oni započnu strastvenu seksualnu vezu.


Razlike u odnosu na roman

Maurice je na početku filma prikazan kao dečak od 11 godina, dok u romanu ima 14. U filmu su izostavljeni gotovo svi filozofski dijalozi i mnogi sporedni zapleti, kao na primer, Mauriceova zaljubljenost u školskog druga, Dickiea. U filmu je posvećeno više pažnje Risleyju, koji je osuđen na 6 meseci teškog rada zbog homoseksualnosti (u romanu nije zatvoren) kako bi se dramatizovala opasnost koju je homoseksualnost nosila u edvardijanskoj eri i da bi se obezbedio jasniji kontekst savremenoj publici zbog koga Clive oseća da mora da odbije Mauricea.

Scena poslednjeg sastanka Mauricea i Aleca prikazana je u pseudo-elizabetanskom kupatilu uz aluzije na Arts and Crafts sa kojim je povezan Edward Carpenter (E.M. Forster je dobio inspiraciju za roman kada je posetio Carpentera i njegovog partnera George Merrilla), ali i na Christophera Marlowea i Shakespearea.


Britansko konzervativno izrazito klasno društvo ima  pravilo da pokazivanje emocija mora biti strogo kontrolisano  i iskazano na društveno prihvatljiv način. Licemjerno su osuđivali svakoga iz svoje "više klase" ko bi popustio svojim ljudskim nagonima i javno izrazio ljubav, oduševljenje ili starstvenost. Homoseksualnost koja je do iza drugog svjetskog rata bila osuđivana na najgore moguće načine ( vješanje, kastriranje, itd) se smatrala društveno neprihvatljivom bolešću i o njoj se moglo pričati samo kao nezamislivom grijehu starih grka od čijih filozofskih misli se izgradila današnja evropska moderna civilizacija. Naravno u višim klasnim krugovima je sve bilo malo tolerantnije ukoliko bi svoje "emocije i neprihvatljive misli zadržali u prihvatljivim okvirima, dok bi niži sloj društva bivao osuđen na smrt.

Iako je današnja Britanija uznapredovala i odbacila stavove da je homoseksualnost bolest, pravilo da se emocije pokazuju na "prikladan način" se smatra džentelmenskim. Za nas južnjake sve to može biti jako smješno, ponekad i seksi, ali najčešće razočaravajuće.
Možete li zamisliti da nakon lude noći u kojoj ste se prepustili najperverznijim željama,nagutali sperme i izjebali se ko nikad u životu vaš "džentelmen" nakon što se obukao kaže: " Bilo mi je zadovoljstvo upoznati Vas, nadam se da ćemo se sresti u nekoj prikladnijoj prilici od ove, naravno ukoliko ste i Vi spremni da produžimo naš partnerski odnos"

Iako se London smatra današnjom gay prijestonicom evrope, može vam desiti da dobijete upozorenje da pričanje o ubacivanju vašeg spolovila u nečiju stražnjicu nije prihvatljivo i da je ustvari tako nešto očekivano samo od primitivne klase ljudi.

 

Ipak iako je kulturološka razlika britanskog i balkanskog mentaliteta drastično velika, sličnosti se ipak svode na emocijama koje su sastavni dio svakog ljudskog bića. U ovom slučaju ljubav, strast i strah od odbačenosti i neuspjeha u društvu.
Bez obzira da li vaša okolina homoseksualnost tretira kao bolest ili ne, kao gej u nekoj od balkanskih država morate biti svjesni da vaša različitost mora biti iskazana na društveno prihvatljivi način kako bi mogli biti prihvaćeni kao osoba vrijedna poštovanja bez obzira na seksualnu orjentaciju. Biti outovan ili ne, stvar je vaše lične procjene, ali ovog ovog pravila se uvjek pridržavajte.

 

”England has always been disinclined to accept human nature” – E.M. Forster

1909. Maurice Hall (James Wilby) is an undergraduate at Kings College, Cambridge. While there, he meets and falls in love with Clive Durham (Hugh Grant). Although they are very close, and continue to be so after University, their love is never consummated. But then Clive, scared by the arrest on an immorality charge of a University friend who later commits suicide, breaks off their relationship, leaving Maurice devastated….

E.M. Forster wrote Maurice around 1914 but due to concerns about the acceptability of its subject matter, he didn’t let it be published until after his death. The novel finally appeared in 1971. It’s usually considered one of his weaker novels, but as is often the way, the lesser novel makes for a better film. In my mind it’s the best of the three films Merchant Ivory made from Forster’s work, and one of their best films overall.

Why is this? There’s a case to be made that Forster as a novelist was crippled by his own sexual orientation, to which he never adjusted. (And let’s not forget that male homosexuality was illegal in Britain until 1967, leaving gay men open to blackmail and long prison sentences, not to mention possible Oscar Wilde-like public disgrace.) Maurice was clearly a very personal work, to which he rather sentimentally gave a happy ending. As Merchant and Ivory are a gay couple of long standing, you can see how this would appeal to them. I’m not sure if Ivory is correct in claiming that this film was the first unapologetic gay love story (complete with brief full-frontal male nudity), with his hero not suicidal at the end but happily in a relationship with gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves), one that cuts across class barriers as well as sexual ones. But it’s certainly an early example of such a film. It’s hard to imagine Merchant Ivory as radical filmmakers, but just this once, in their oh-so-discreet and polite way, they may have slipped something subversive past their audience. Seventeen years later – and I speak as someone who saw Maurice on its cinema release – it may be hard to realise what the fuss was about. But back in 1987, the AIDS epidemic was only six years old, and as Ivory says if Maurice had been made very much earlier it might have attracted more condemnation than it did.

Many Merchant Ivory films are full of surface pleasures: sumptuous costume and production design and camerawork, making a relatively small budget seem much larger, not to mention literate dialogue and fine performances from some very distinguished actors. But what is often missing is passion: you don’t sense an overwhelming urge to make this film rather than something else. That isn’t the case with Maurice though, which is constantly engaging and in places quite moving if a little overlong. Merchant Ivory’s usual scriptwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was committed to a novel at the time and didn’t feel comfortable with the subject matter, so the screenplay is the work of Kit Hesketh-Harvey (of cabaret act Kit and the Widow) and Ivory. As Hesketh-Harvey admits, much of the dialogue comes straight from the book.

Apart from the central three (and Graves doesn’t appear until after the halfway mark), most of the roles are little more than adroitly-played cameos. (Helena Bonham Carter turns up uncredited as a spectator at a cricket match.) Although Wilby and Graves are excellent, it’s Hugh Grant’s Clive on which the film turns. Grant has played the silly-ass dithering Englishman a few too many times in Four Weddings and a Funeral and its follow-ups, so it’s easy to forget how good an actor he can be. Clive is one of his best roles, along with another gay role in the little-seen An Awfully Big Adventure. Clive’s platonic love for Maurice dominates the first half of the film and it’s Clive’s crisis of conscience which causes the key event in the film, when he rejects Maurice. Although we see Maurice leave for a hopefully happy future as a gay man, we end the film with Clive. As he gazes out of a window, the camera looks in at him, his wife Anne (a deft performance of uncloying sweetness from Phoebe Nicholls, an actress much underused by the British Film Industry) clearly in love with him but he will never be able to reciprocate, the frame of the window like the bars of a prison of his own making.

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