LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Queer Movies for Summer 2000 |
by Mark J. Huisman |
Hollywood will just have to excuse us queers for not diving headlong into its regular deluge of special effects, explosions, aliens, straight people and, of course, alien straight people. If we must endure het sex, we ought to see a couple of them flattened: BLAT goes Tom! SPLAT goes Julia! Because the summer calendar is in constant disarray, we've listed the summer's real queer flicks alphabetically. (See the key box at the bottom of this page for our viewing shorthand.) Tired of waiting for films to make their way your way from the coasts? Call your local theaterrepeatedlyand make a queer request. Aimee' and Jaguar (written by Max Farberbock and Rona Munro, directed by Frberbck, QF; NY/LA 8/11, Chicago 8/18, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco 8/25; NAT) The astounding true story about the affair between Lilly Wust (Juliane Khler), a German housewife with four children who leaves her husband for seductive Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader), who reveals herself to be Jewish. From the moment Lily slaps Felice for kissing her, Farberbock propels us to war-torn Berlin, circa Allied bombardment and Gestapo roundups. Aimee' and Jaguar (nicknames used to hide secret love) is brilliant cinema, one of the most significant queer films of all time. Benjamin Smoke (directed by Jem Cohen and Peter Sillen; QF; NY/LA 7/21; QF; SLC) A thoroughly gripping film about Atlanta poet Benjamin Smoke, an HIV-positive drug addict who had a way with words and images that most of us can't achieve sober. (Perhaps that's why he wasn't.) But I'm A Cheerleader (written and directed by Jamie Babbit; QF; NY/LA 7/7, NAT 7/21) Babbit's raucous debut is a steady-handed, knowing farce, a rare perfect lesbian/gay double date. Queerness flowers at the supposed ex-gay camp, where Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is sent by her parents (Mink Stole and Bud Cort) and which is run by one Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty). And straight will out, literally: Latent lesbians can fantasize about cock, but those titties will only look better! Queer boys can play war games, but if the cut-out soldiers are giving blow jobs, so will the guys. Megan and company all have their eyes on queer prizes. Even "reformed" counselor Mike (Ru Paul Charles, brilliant out of drag), lusting after Mary's beefy, hedge-pruning, rake-stroking, cocktail-sipping son, Rock (Eddie Cirbian). Chuck and Buck (written by Mike White, directed by Miguel Arteta; NY/LA 7/14; LTD) A movingat times sadly sostory about Buck (White), a 27-year-old man whose arrested development leaves him queerly obsessed with childhood pal Chuck (Chris Weitz). The wonderfully wrought tension between Chuck and Buck is a more unflinchingly honest depiction of the clash between straight and queer culture than any I've seen in a long time. One of the film's best conceits is Buck's friendship with the kids at a children's theater. Chutney Popcorn (written by Susan Carnival and Nisha Ganatra, directed by Ganatra; QF; SCTV) Reena (Ganatra) is torn between Lisa (Jill Hennessy, looking fine in blond-streaked hair and leather jacket) and an old-fashioned Indian family. When her daughter uses the L-word in public, Reena's mother, Meenu (Madhur Jaffrey) screeches, "Have you no shame!" Well, no, mom! When Reena's sister Sarita (Sakina Jaffrey) discovers she can't have kids, hubby Mitch (Nick Chinlund) pounces on Reena's offer to be a surrogate. Suddenly, rebel dyke and phobic straight man are the happiest couple around. Criminal Lovers (written and directed by Francois Ozon; NY 7/21, LA/Seattle 8/18, 9/1 San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley; LTD) With a terrific cast and twisted wit, French director Francois Ozon queers Hansel and Gretel. In true femme fatale style, Alice (Natacha Regnier) seduces Luc (Jeremie Renier) into killing Said (Salim Kechiouche). But when burying the body goes wrong, Alice and Luc get lost in the forest, where the Woodsman (Miki Manojlovic) awakens Luc's suppressed queer desire. The Eyes of Tammy Faye (written and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, QF, NY/LA 7/14; NAT) The Bible. Mascara. Televangelism. Mascara. Religious theme parks. Mascara. Hand puppets. Narration by Ru Paul. Appearance by Jim J. Bullock. Mascara. Religion. Love. Lies. Runny mascara. Adultery. Betrayal. Denial. More runny mascara. Jerry Falwell. Crime. Punishment. Excommunication. Rivers and rivers and rivers of runny, runny, runny mascara. Sit. See. Scream. The Five Senses (written and directed by Jeremy Podeswa; NY 7/27, LTD) A sumptuous film about five people wrestling with personal problems having to do with their senses, led by house cleaner Robert (Daniel MacIvor, of Beefcake), who is searching for the smell of love, best pal Rona (Mary Louise Parker) makes stunningly beautiful (but inedible) cakes and whose love live has a similar imbalance and Ruth (Gabriella Rose) is a massage therapist unable to express affection for her daughter, Rachel (Nadia Litz). Among Podeswa's brilliant strokes are the scenes between Rachel and voyeuristic young Rupert (Brendan Fletcher), who takes her to watch gay men make out in a park and later dresses up in her wig and lingerie. To see young people experiment so shamelessly with their sexuality is pure joy. Just One Time (written by Lane Janger and Jennifer Vanderver, directed by Janger; QF; 8/25 NY; SLC) Why do straight directors always claim that their films "appeal equally to straight and gay audiences?" Stop it! Anthony (Janger) agrees to have sex with gay Victor (Guillermo Diaz), but only so Anthony's fiancee Amy (Joelle Carter) will make out for him with another woman. Two subplots about a lesbian cabinet maker (Jennifer Esposito) and a hunky firefighter (David Lee Russek) should have been the big plot. But we're NOT equal after all: Anthony and Victor never get to do it, so Just One Time is even less than that. The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me (written and performed by David Drake, directed by Tim Kirkman; QF; NY 7/14; NAT) Kirkman's astounding translation of Drake's record-breaking 1992 off-Broadway show crackles with timeliness. From a critique of body culture"That's Why I Go to the Gym"to "12 Inch Single," in which a popper-sniffing disco dance slyly addresses substance abuse, Drake's performance has much matured. You'll adore the clever post-script, in which we achieve equality in 2010, right after the Limbaugh assassination. Psycho Beach Party (adapted from the play by Charles Busch, directed by Robert King; NY late August; NAT) Florence Forest (Lauren Ambrose) begs the Great Kanaka (Thomas Gibson) to teach her surfing, but his posseStarcat, Junior, Yo-Yo and Provoloneycan't handle the competition. And with teen corpses stacking up from drive-in to diner, everybody's got more important things on their minds, especially Captain Monica Stark (Busch), perhaps the most swish but ambitious gumshoe ever. King gives us a bouncy 50s-derived comic book beach fest of debutantes, dudes, B-movie starlets. Look for the best body double scene of all time and Yo-Yo's truly queer cure for Provoloney's constipation. Time Regained (adapted by Gilles Taurand and Raul Ruiz, directed by Ruiz; NY 6/16; San Francisco 7/13; LA 7/14; Chicago 8/11; LTD) As saturated as Proust's prose, Ruiz overlaps the author's life, characters and stories with stunning seamlessness. An image unfolds to a soft : "...covered in wallpaper awash with apple trees in the Japanese style." In a dark bedroom, a door opens onto the bright blue sky above the beach where young Marcel met his first crush. Time Regained is superbly visceral and, with John Malkovich as Baron De Charlus, Vincent Perez as Morel and Pascal Greggory as Saint-Loup and Catherine Deneuve as Odette, one of the most unapologetically queer literary adaptations ever. Water Drops on Burning Rocks (adapted and directed by Francois Ozon, QF; NY 7/12; SLC) Ozon rides to the rescue again, resurrecting a never-produced play by queer master Rainer Werner Fassbinder about Leopold (Bernard Giraudeau), a fifty-year old sales executive and his current young conquest, red-headed Frantz (Malik Zidi). But no sooner than Leo can say "exciting and new," the duo is sniping, breaking up and reuniting. But when Frantz's girlfriend Anna (Ludivine Sagnier) and Vera (Anna Thomson), Leo's ex-girlfriend (and ex-boyfriend) arrive in short order, everybody's plans are upended. Mark J. Huisman is a New York-based feelance journalist whose work appears in The Village Voice and The Nation, among others. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 6, June 2, 2000. |