A Magnificent Haunting (2012)
 "Magnifica presenza" (original title)  

Director: Ferzan Ozpetek 
Writer: Ferzan Ozpetek, Federica Pontremoli
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Fantasy
Country: Italy 
Language: Italian 
Duration: 105 min
Year: 2012

Site: Facebook

Stars: Elio Germano, Margherita Buy, Vittoria Puccini             

Although it is a gay film, it does not focus on gay issue (love, cruelty of life, paradox of choices, etc.) but focuses on the normal life and thought of a human, his name is Pietro.   Pietro wants to be an actor, and endeavours to do all that he can to become one, but he just fails. When he has his own apartment and the upcoming dinner with his love, bitter truth reveals to the viewers what they do not know until then about Pietro, about the way he is obsessed with love. However, and also marvelously handling, the film immediately draws our attention to the other and also the biggest event in the film. Pietro meets ghosts. Little by little, Pietro finds way to understand the existence of the ghosts.

Also, bit by bit does he learn from those "artist" ghosts who were actors and actresses at their time. Will luck smile on Pietro? Viewers will decide for themselves when Pietro continuously "loses" the expected and "gets" the unexpected during his encounters in life.   At the end of the film, truth reveals about the death of the actors and actress, the reason why they become ghosts.

Again, tenderly tackling, the film draws our attention to the emotions and actions of Pietro when viewers observe his eyes when he watches another man who is his neighbor and also with those eyes at the final stage do viewers understand now there are things more important than just falling in love and living for oneself. The happy life is a life which gives away happiness to others', and the meaningful life is the life which is not born with meaningful things but has to create meanings for itself.  

Intelligent comedy with meanings, up and down contexts with purposes, real drama with truthful emotions and feelings, the film combines and diverts things into a tasty soup. Viewers' role is to sip it slowly and tenderly…  

Review by feliht on Orvel.me

After the Dark (2013)

After the Dark (2013)
"The Philosophers" (original title)

Director: John Huddles
Writer: John Huddles
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA , Indonesia
Language: English
Duration: 107 min
Year: 2013

Stars: James D'Arcy, Sophie Lowe, Daryl Sabara, Freddie Stroma, Rhys Wakefield, Bonnie Wright, George Blagden

 

Ima li mjesta za gejeve u svjetu koji se bori za opstanak ljudske vrste?

 

 

Većini str8 ljudi će izgledati beskorisno razmišljati o gejevima u nekom apokaliptičnom vremenu kada se borimo za opstanak ljudske vrste u kojemu je imperativ imati djecu i potomke.
Ako bi ljudski rod gledali kao zbir jedinki čiji je najveći životni izazov osigurati priplod za produženje vrste onda bi gejevi mogli poslužiti jedino kao hrana u nekim gladnim godinama kada je teško doći do hrane za preživljavanje.
Nepotrebno bi bilo razmišljati i o umjetnosti, muzici, tehnologiji... Mozak bi nam služio samo za stvaranje ideja kako osvojiti ženku ( ili mužjaka) za oplođavanje i kako uhvatiti plijen za ručak. Sve ostalo je suvišno. Ljudi bi se pretvorili u kreature sa velikim mudima i malim mozgom. Dovoljno za opstanak ljudske vrste u biološkom smislu.

Jasno je da takav opstanak nije opstanak čovječanstva , već samo puki životinjski opstanak u majmunolikom čoporu.

Ljudsku vrstu ne čini samo stvaranje potomaka i borba za hranu. Stvoreni smo mnogo kompleksnije, umjemo da razmišljamo, da kreiramo svjet u skladu sa emocijama, da istražujemo, da se ispunjavamo stvaralaštvom i iznad svega da uživamo u različitosti pojedinaca koji zajedno čine ono što nazivamo ljudski rod. U toj različitosti spadaju i gejevi koji bez obzira što vole isti pol svojom kreativnošću i emocijama doprinose da ponosno sebe nazivamo ljudima.

Ovaj film nam govori upravo o tome. Grupa studenata u učionoci raspravlja o tome koga bi izabrali da preživi nastupajuću apokalipsu. U skloništu ima mjesta samo za 10 osoba koje u njemu treba da provedu godinu dana nakon čega ponovo nastanjuju zemlju. Ko je vrijedan toga da nastavi ljudsku vrstu?

Imaju li prednost graditelji, doktori, naučnici i poljoprivrednici nad umjetnicima, pjevačima, pjesnicima ili slikarima? Imamo li pravo odbaciti bilo koju ljudsku osobinu u ime pukog preživljavanja?

 

“In my apocalypse, everybody’s worth as much as everybody else. We live briefly, but we don’t mind. And when it’s time to die, we don’t resist death. We summon it.” —  Petra

Mr. Zimit (James D'Arcy), a philosophy teacher at an international school in Jakarta, has been challenging his class of twenty with thought exercises to prepare them for their futures out in the world. On the last day of school, he holds a final exercise in which he posits an oncoming atomic apocalypse. There is a bunker ready to shelter them for a year, but it only has supplies for ten people. Zimit asks his students to decide who of them should be allowed into the shelter. The top student in the class, Petra (Sophie Lowe), initially refuses to participate, but Zimit threatens to lower James' academic score if she doesn't.

Zimit distributes cards to the students, starting with Petra's boyfriend, James (Rhys Wakefield), followed by Petra herself, and then the rest of the class. The cards contain a detail about their characters in the exercise: James is an organic farmer and Petra is an engineer. The students defend their right to enter the shelter based on the info on their cards, and votes are given after discussion. Students with skills judged useful for survival are allowed in, such as James and Petra, while those who don't are refused, such as Beatrice (Maia Mitchell), a fashion designer. Zimit is part of the exercise but his skills are hidden. At first the students agree to let him in, but Zimit executes the students who have been rejected, citing that it is more humane than letting them die by radiation. The remaining students race into the bunker and lock the glass door behind them before the explosion. Outside, Zimit holds up a card saying that only he has the exit code. After living out the year in the bunker, the survivors discover that the exit code is necessary. All attempts of breaking out of the bunker are futile, and after the food runs out they commit group suicide.

 

They decide to try the exercise again, this time with the apocalypse being the explosion of a volcano. The cards given earlier are revealed to contain a secondary detail, and these change the votes, eg. Georgina (Bonnie Wright), who was allowed in earlier because of her status as a surgeon, now has possibly contracted the Ebola virus and is rejected. Petra and James are still voted in despite James' additional character detail of being gay. Zimit and the chosen students enter the bunker, and agree to start procreating immediately. Various heterosexual pairs get together, but as James is gay in this exercise, Petra has to sleep with Zimit. After ten weeks there are no pregnancies, and Zimit argues that they need to change partners. Bonnie (Katie Findlay), a soldier with eidetic memory, protests this, and Zimit threatens her with a gun. Jack (Freddie Stroma) attacks Zimit, stabbing him with a pencil. Zimit staggers to the bunker's doors, opening them and killing everyone.

James questions Zimit's motives for this exercise, asking why he seems intent on punishing them. After checking the box with the cards, James discovers that his and Petra's were fixed, though Zimit refuses to explain his reasons.

The exercise is carried out a third time on an island where bombs are about to fall. Petra asks if everyone will trust her to choose who gets to enter the bunker, and they agree. She picks people who are a potential risk or have non-technical skills, including the opera singer and poet, which angers Zimit. Petra refuses to enter the bunker, asking for the keys to the boats so everyone else can try to escape the blast. Chips (Daryl Sabara), who is inside the bunker, pretends to offer the keys but switches places with her, pushing her inside as the door closes. Zimit is refused entry to the bunker as his exit code is no longer necessary—Bonnie remembers it from the previous iteration. Petra continues the thought exercise, explaining that with such people in the bunker the one year was enjoyable and filled with creativity. When it's time for them to leave, they discover that the bombs never fell. Zimit narrates that now they will die, as none of them have the technical skills to survive, but Petra counters that they will live the rest of their short lives well, and will welcome death when it arrives. Zimit arrives at the beach, having survived in a cave for the past year, and threatens to shoot James, but the rest of the survivors stand in front of him.

Back in class, Zimit is discomfited by the latest exercise. At the end of the session, everyone leaves except Petra, who confronts Zimit and accuses him of trying to use the exercise to punish her and James. Zimit has been having an affair with Petra, and is offended that she is with James, who he considers beneath her. Petra argues that intelligence isn't all that matters. The film ends with Zimit alone in the school, going through the motions.

“Do you know what apocalypse actually means? It’s from the Greek apocalypsis, meaning to uncover what you couldn’t see before. A way out of the dark.” — 'After the Dark', director John Huddles

Poltergay (2006)

Poltergay (2006)


Zar nisu duhovi sami po sebi dovoljno strašni? A u ovom filmu se pojavljuju duhovi koji su uz to još i pederi! Užas, čovijek se jedva odbrani od živih pedera, a ako vas napadnu pederi duhovi, mislim da nema šanse da se izvučete! Kad počnu da vam zaviruju pod pokrivač, ulaze u tuš kabinu...
Taman se opustite da uz pornić izdrkate , a duh vam pusti na razglas pjesmu "raspuchin" od Boney M.
Ova komedija je super osmisšljena. Zgodan lik (Clovis Cornillac ) se tek oženio i sa svojom ženom uselio u jednu staru kuću, s namjerom da je urede po svom ukusu! A onda počne veselje, pederi iz sedamdesetih godina počnu da prave party u podrumu kuće, muzika trešti na sve strane pri čemu sve to vidi i čuje samo mladoženja. A žena pojma nema! haha

Ovi duhovi , veseli i razdragani jako vole ono što i većina pedera, dobru muziku, ples i glamur!

Year: 2006
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Director: Eric Lavaine
Duration: 93 min
Country France
Actors: Clovis Cornillac, Julie Depardieu, Lionel Abelanski, Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus, Jean-Michel Lahmi, Philippe Duquesne, Georges Gay, Alain Fromager, Anne Caillon, Michel Duchaussoy, Christian Pereira, Héctor Cabello Reyes, Christophe Guybet, Gérard Loussine, Stefan Wojtowicz

Poltergeist meets Saturday Night Fever with a gay spin in the French high-concept comedy Poltergay, but not everything is rosy. Rookie director Eric Lavaine wastes a potentially brilliant premise for a cult classic with pedestrian execution, lame jokes and sequins instead of character development. A bulked-up Clovis Cornillac stars as Marc Modena, a construction worker who has recently moved into a decrepit mansion where he sees gay disco ghosts that his wife Emma (Julie Depardieu) cannot fathom. Only in a French comedy would a psychiatrist advise that he might be gay and should act on his impulses -- and almost kill his father-in-law in the process. The denouement does go somewhere unexpected, but is unlikely to be the place where potential audience members want to be. The film will possibly surface at some gay festivals and on TV as a cinematic oddity.

Versatile French actor Clovis Cornillac may be mostly known for headlining big budget fare like Les chevaliers du ciel (Sky Fighters), Les brigades du Tigre (The Tiger Brigades) and the upcoming live-action Astérix film (in which he will play the title role), but he is equally at home in smaller, more dramatic films (La femme de Gilles/Gilles' Wife). Under the direction of first-time director Lavaine Cornillac fares less well, perhaps also because the strange genre hybrid of Poltergay puts the actor out of his depth. A more straightforward comedian might have been better suited to the role (perhaps Jean Brice de Nice Dujardin, or even someone like Michaël Youn) because Cornillac overplays the drama, which is slight to begin with, and never relishes the film's attempts at comedy, which subsequently fall flat. Since his character is supposedly providing most of the laughs, this is a serious problem.

The gay disco ghosts have all of one characteristic each, the most depressing being a ghost who might actually be a closeted heterosexual. As his wife, Depardieu has little to do, and a sub-plot involving her archeological expidition abroad is never fully exploited. Likewise, Marc's Italian heritage is only touched upon briefly, and more on this could have added some character insight and spice. What these two elements lead to (namely, the ancient Romans) is also fussy because from what information we are given on the poltergays, it suggests a maximum age of 700 years.

Technical package is what we have come to expect of a French comedy, and light special effects (mainly adding pixie dust to the ghosts' entrances and exits through the walls, and one inventive scene involving billiard balls) is adequate. Musical score is what is to be expected of gay disco ghosts who hail from 1979; the film's only laugh-out-loud moment involves Boney M. The explanation of why Marc can see the poltergays is odd, especially when considering the target audience of a pink Poltergeist. Product placement is ostentatious, to the point of being distracing.

Lilies - Les feluettes (1996)

Ima li mjesta pokajanju? Priča o svešteniku koji je prinuđen suoćiti se sa svojom sramnom prošlošću. Dolazi u zatvor da ispovjedi zatvorenika na smrt, al nailazi na žrtvu svoje pakosti , ljubomore i zlobe! Prisiljen je suočiti se sa svojim nedjelima koja su koštala života dva mlada gay momka, čiju je ljubav, ionako tešku pretvorio u pakao!
No neću vam opisivati film, pogledajte ga sami. Ono što me je navelo na razmišljanje je činjenica da mnogi vjernici odlaze kod sveštenika na ispovjed!
Ispričaju šta su učinjeli, pokaju se i poslije sve iz početka. I svaki put kada dođu kod popa budu oslobođeni grijeha! Niko i ne razmišlja o tome kakvom se čovijeku ispovjeda! možda se radi baš o nekom zločincu kao što je biskup u ovom filmu! I taj nam sudi i određuje šta je grijeh , a šta ne!
Neću da ulazim u neke religiozne monologe, ali bi trebalo razmisliti o tome koliko se religioznih pedera grize i kaje zbog nečega čemu nisu krivi! To ti dođe kao da se kaješ što sunce izlazi i zalazi!

Year: 1996
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Rating:

Director: John Greyson
Duration: 95 min
Country Canada
Actors: Ian D. Clark, Marcel Sabourin, Aubert Pallascio, Jason Cadieux, Danny Gilmore, Matthew Ferguson, Brent Carver, Rémy Girard, Robert Lalonde, Gary Farmer, Alexander Chapman, John Dunn-Hill, Paul-Patrice Charbonneau, Michel Marc Bouchard, Khanh Hua

Imaginative, retrospective revalation of brutal homophobic events in a young ménage-ŕ-trois, based on love, betrayal and revenge.

Brent Carver as Countess Marie Laure de Tilly1952: Bishop Bilodeau os to hear the last confession of the terminally ill prisoner Simon Doucet. Having bribed some of the guards and secured the help of the chaplain, around a dozen inmates lock the chapel and transform it into a theatre. The bishop is forced to watch a dramatisation of his and Doucet's lives in 1912, which had led to the incarceration of the now sick man. The played-out scenes, in which the prisoners take over both male and female roles, turn into real memories, but still with the prisoners playing their parts. The love story between the young Simon Doucet and Count Vallier de Tilly is gradually unfolded, and three factors enter into the plot. Jean Bilodeau, unsure of his homosexuality, the French woman Lydie-Anne de Rozier, and a society which does not understand gay love. No one taking part knows the full story and how it ends and, as the truth is brought to light, it is the bishop who makes a confession and may not come out of it unscathed...

* John Greyson is a political filmmaker who has been arousing attention for 16 years with partly fictional, falsified or musical documentaries on subjects of lesbians & gays, workers, racism and Aids (Zero Patience ). Today, in the late 90's, a time when the North American continent is being swept by a tide of right-wing anti-lesbian anti-gay Christian fundamentalism, he hits back with Lilies, attacking the ignorance which misunderstands love and fosters intolerance. As a basis for his film he uses Michel Marc Bouchard's stage play of the same name, written in 1987 (the French title being Les Feluettes). Although a theatrical atmosphere is deliberately recalled time after time, Lilies is anything but a stage play. With imaginative and playful innovations Greyson takes us into a world of images and imagination, and surprises us with the natural and unreserved readiness of the inmates to sympathise with homosexual love and to play the parts of women and gays. Lilies is a movie work of art, in which the setting of a declaration of love in a bath-tub in a prison chapel, or, as the case may be, in the middle of a forest, captures the audience as much as the intensity of its interpersonal feelings and tragic events does. New Queer Cinema will be enriched by a new perspective from this hit from Quebec.

* Lilies combines all the old themes of gay cinema – homoerotica (including the masochistic element of Saint Sebastian), prison, church, drag, love denied and social prejudices – with something new, well within the artistic demands of New Queer Cinema. This has already catapulted Lilies to the distinction of being one of the most important gay films of the coming season, and will appeal to more heterosexual audiences than is usual in this genre










John Greyson
British Columbia, Canada

John Greyson’s cinematic breakthrough came in 1993 with the release of the outrageous satirical musical-comedy Zero Patience. He is best known for directing the beautifully crafted Lilies - an adaptation of Michel Marc Bouchard’s play Les feluettes. Greyson also co-wrote and directed the film Proteus in addition to four episodes of the iconic television series Queer as Folk.