Queer Review: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Director: Nagisa Ôshima
Writers: Nagisa Ôshima and Paul Mayersberg. Based upon the novel The Seed and The Sower by Laurens Van der Post
Cast: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryûichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Jack Thompson, James Malcolm, Chris Broun

Overview
A story of World War II, set in a Japanese P.O.W. camp, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence examines issues of honour, courage, desire, and sacrifice.

Synopsis
Colonel John Lawrence (Tom Conti) is a P.O.W. at a Japanese camp under the command of Captain Yonoi (Ryûichi Sakamoto). When a new prisoner, Major Jack 'Strafer' Celliers (David Bowie) arrives, Yonoi soon finds himself becoming increasingly attracted to Celliers, naturally leading to chaos and strife. Complications come from the Group Captain Hicksley (Jack Thompson), who finds Lawrence's sympathies for the Japanese intolerable and is angry at Yonoi's plans to have Celliers appointed as the new Group Captain.

The Queering
First, I must point out the obvious parallels that are drawn between Bowie's Celliers and Jesus Christ. For example, Jack Celliers has the initials JC, which is a screenwriters convention to indicate a messiah complex. During a key scene Celliers distributes food to the prisoners during a time when Captain Yonoi had ordered a fast from a basket, much like Jesus distributed loaves and fishes to a hungry crowd. Early in the movie, Celliers is tried by a Japanese Court for war crimes and sentenced to die. When Celliers is being tied up by the Japanese, he's arms are outstretched in the classic crucifix position. Only it turns out that this execution is being done with blanks. To me this part was obviously supposed to parallel Jesus's death and resurrection on the cross.

This of course, does not even tough upon the fact that Celliers is quiet often the willing sacrifice. During one flashback, Celliers is shown taking a beating, in order to allow his brother to escape from a pack of bullies. Later, he puts his life at risk in order to prevent Captain Yonoi from killing Hicksley. Only at one critical point, did Celliers ever choose not to endure pain for another, which was a decision that clearly haunted him forever afterwards.

This is all contrasted with the Japanese notions of honour and sacrifice. It is made explicit on several occasions that the Japanese view the allied troops that surrendered, as cowardly for doing so, rather than committing seppuku. This is a point that Lawrence tries to make clear to Hicksley, but Hicksley refuses to understand it.

Furthermore, the filmmakers also draw a parallel here between Christ's love for humanity and gay love. I say this because, during one key scene, Celliers uses Captain Yonoi's attraction for him to save another man's life. A long time ago, Plato in the Symposium argued that gay love between those of the same sex, was the highest form of love of all. Taken together, I had to wonder if director Nagisa Ôshima was trying to make some sort of comparison between Jesus's sacrifice and persecution and the sacrifices and persecution of queers throughout history.

Regarding the acting, all of the major performances are strong, but Bowie's requires special mention. His work during an early scene where it appears that he has been condemned to die, is heart wrenching. Take all of this together, the thematic subtexts and the strength of the acting, and you have one great movie.

Recommendation
Highly recommended. This movie makes for a great present for film buffs on any day of the year, Christmas or not.

The Rating

Trailer


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Queer Review: Feed (2005)

Feed
Director: Brett Leonard
Writer: Kieran Galvin
Cast: Alex O'Loughlin, Patrick Thompson, Gabby Millgate, Jack Thompson, Rose Ashton, Matthew Le Nevez, David Field, Sherly Sulaiman

Overview
A bad horror exploitation flick, Feed heads deep into Cruising territory, even as it attempts to offer up some confusing social commentary. All in all, horrible modern filmmaking techniques, such as rapid fire editing, and a story that throws every cliché, trope, and stereotype into the mix, come together to create a truly unappetising milieu.

Synopsis
After solving a strange case involving cannibalism, that was apparently inspired by Armin Meiwes, an Australian Interpol police officer, Phillip Jackson (Patrick Thompson) finds himself emotionally shaken. His next case - which involves a man, Michael Carter (Alex O'Loughlin), who feeds women until they die from obesity - takes bizarreness to whole new levels. As the increasingly mentally unstable Phillip engages in a dangerous cat and mouse game with Michael, the latest victim, Deidre (Gabby Millgate), inches ever closer to death.

The Queering
On pretty much any level imaginable Feed is a truely repulsive movie. It has pretty much only two saving graces. One is the intense performances of Phillip Jackson and Alex O'Loughlin. O'Loughlin is particularly brilliant as the sociopath who taunts the increasingly unhinged Phillip. Thompson is less controlled, but no less memorable as Michael's chauvinistic foil. The second saving grace of Feed is the potential post-screening discussions that will likely happen.

No, this is not a particularly deep or insightful motion picture but it tries so hard to be one, that the pretentiousness oozes more freely the chocolate syrup and lard that the evil Michael force feeds into Deidre. Much of the over done dialogue includes phrases like "consumption is evolution" and there are multiple references to Christian iconography. At one point, Phillip interrupts Michael's wife while she was receiving communion and Michael briefly takes up the crucifix position when it appears Michael has the upper hand. What exactly is the point of that, I don't really get. To draw a comparison between Jesus's sacrifice, symbolised by the bread and wine/grape juice that is fed to people at communion and the way Michael feeds his victims?

The problem of course, is that no one involved really demonstrates a deeper understanding of Christian mythos, as evidenced by the end. Therefore, Feed's attempts at drawing deeper parallels with the story of Christ fall as flat as it's knowledge of pop psychology. Note to whoever developed the idea; it really is not all that new or revolutionary to have your lead Psycho killer be motivated by a bizarre Oedipus complex.

By far, the strongest element of Feed is the battle of minds that occurs between Michael and Phillip, mainly due to the ethical ambiguity of their positions. While Michael is clearly evil, the way Phillip treats his bisexual girlfriend, along with his habit of breaking and entering, denies the officer the clear moral high ground. There's also a strong queer subtext in the relationship between Philip and Michael. Usually, I find homoerotic subtexts like this to be interesting or delightful, though in this case the preferred adjectives would be disturbing and extremely creepy.

At the end of the day, Feed is too muddled in it's thematic context and many scenes are deliberately stomach turning. Add to that the choppy, rapid editing and you have one movie that should not be fed to anyone.

Recommendation
Excepting those individuals in the target audience, namely hardcore horror fans, anyone who dines on Feed risks the cinematic equivalent of food poisoning.

The Rating

Trailer


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Queer Review: The Sum of Us (1994)

The Sum of Us
Directors: Geoff Burton and Kevin Dowling
Writer: David Stevens. Based upon the play by David Stevens
Cast: Jack Thompson, Russell Crowe, John Polson, Deborah Kennedy

Overview
A gentle comedy/romance story featuring a young Russell Crowe before he became famous, The Sum of Us tells the story of two individuals looking for love in this world.

Synopsis
Jeff Mitchell (Russell Crowe) is an openly gay plumber lives with his overly accepting father Harry (Jack Thompson) who is looking for a new wife following the death of Jeff's mother. When Jeff hooks up with Greg (John Polson), a guy from the local pub that he'd be eyeing, Greg is so used to hiding his sexuality from his own father that he actually ends up being turned off by Harry's welcoming home. While Jeff becomes depressed at this rejection, Harry finds love when he meets Joyce Johnson (Deborah Kennedy), a divorced woman who had given up hope at finding a new significant other at her age. Conflict arises though, when Joyce finds out about Jeff's sexuality and becomes upset that Harry would be so accepting of his "homosexual" son. Soon after, Harry suffers a stroke, forcing Jeff to care for him, thereby limiting Jeff's chances at getting back with Greg, who was kicked out of his house, when his own father discovered his sexuality.

The Queering
When full length commercial films were first starting to be made, they borrowed heavily from the medium of theatre, from the technical elements to acting styles. However, films eventually found their own ground to stand on and their own language. The over the top theatrics necessary to bring a live performance to life, eventually gave way to a more naturalistic style that most film audiences will find familiar.

Screenwriter David Stevens could have taken a lesson or two from this history when he adapted The Sum of Us from his own play. In plays, sequences where characters break the fourth wall and directly address the audience are more common for a reason in theatre rather than cinema. In a play, this allows the audience to better understand an issue or character motivation that would be difficult to address in a naturalistic fashion. Movies on the other hand have a cardinal rule called "show don't tell". Editing allows for a filmmaker to insert brief scene or flashback into the narrative to help convey information or character motivation, thereby lessening the need for verbal narration.

During the adaptation process, it would have benefited The Sum of Us greatly if Stevens had cut out the soliloquies and instead focused on using more traditional filmmaking techniques to convey the story. It seems not a minute or two passes before another character is addressing the camera directly. If this technique had been used more sparingly, this might have been a better movie, as it was I found it highly irritating.

The lone subtlety - and by subtlety I mean something that was not explicitly spelled out to us in a soliloquy - in the film has to do with Harry and the relationship he had with his Grandmother. It is suggested that perhaps Harry is slightly homophobic but that he goes out of his way to compensate for this because of the guilt he felt when his mother and the female lover she found after the death his father, were separated by his family due to their aging condition and unable to see each other again before they died. This backstory is more touching and emotionally compelling then anything else that happens in The Sum of Us

Much like My Beautiful Laundrette the other problem The Sum of Us suffered from was the lack of any strong central conflict. This is not an insurmountable problem, but the conflicts that did come up were usually too easily resolved. For example, when Joyce nearly dumps Harry because of her homophobia, she apparently is able to overcome it simply by seeing how well Jeff is taking care of his now bedridden father the next time she visits. There are no character arcs or slow developments, everything happens through sudden revelations rather then dawning realizations.

At least here is some nice acting. Jack Thompson should be an now expert on playing a supportive straight guy - he played the lawyer defending a gay man accused of murder in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. His Harry Mitchel is a delight to watch. Opposite him, it's interesting watching a young Russell Crowe show a certain spark that he lost before every role he took on appeared calculated to garner an Oscar nomination.

Recommendation
Recommended for those who won't mind having everything explained to them via explicit narration or who can enjoy movies that lack any surprises.

The Rating




Trailer


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Queer Review: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: John Lee Hancock based upon the novel by John Berendt
Cast: John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, Jack Thompson, Irma P. Hall, Lady Chablis, Jude Law, Alison Eastwood, Paul Hipp, Geoffrey Lewis

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a slow moving character study, that is if we consider the place of Savannah, Georgia to be a character in of itself. The movie is based upon the book of the same title by John Berendt, which tells the story of his experiences in the town during a high profile murder investigation.

Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey) is a wealthy and closeted gay man, whose annual high profile Christmas party is being covered by John Kelso (John Cusack) for a magazine article that Kelso was commissioned to write. Shortly before Kelso was planning to fly back to New York, a shocking event in the form of Williams shooting and killing his young lover Billy Hanson (Jude Law) - makes Kelso decide to stay and investigate these events in the hopes of writing a book. Williams claims that he acted in self defense, but that does not prevent a murder trial from commencing where Williams sexual orientation could sway a jury towards rendering a guilty verdict.

While John Kelso aids Williams defense teams, he meets and gets to know Savannah's colorful cast of characters. There's Lady Chablis (played by herself) a flamboyant female transgendered performer, Minerva (Irma P. Hall) a mysterious Voodoo practitioner, Joe Odom (Paul Hipp) a high class squatter, and Luther Driggers (Geoffrey Lewis) a man who keeps flies as pets and carries a bottle that he claims contains enough poison to kill everyone in Savannah. Kelso also meets and woos Mandy Nicholls (Alison Eastwood) a character not found in the novel.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil moves slowly, arguably too slowly at times. Eastwood directs with a steady hand, establishing a moody atmosphere and capably depicts the colorful cast of characters. The film's stumbling block comes in the final third when the plot gets dragged down with the details of Williams trial. The film's strongest sections are where Kelso meets and gets to know Savannah's colorful citizenry. Once the grand jury has delivered the indictment, the film becomes moribund in familiar movie trial tropes and trivial details.

Acting wise, Lady Chablis is a standout, providing a memorably sassy performance. Kevin Spacey is also very good playing a rich Southern dandy with a subtle flamboyance and just the right amount of ambiguity. John Cusack tends to have trouble distinguishing himself amongst the more colorful cast, but that is not a problem as the role does not require him to do much. His character is mostly a witness to the events and it is not until later on in the proceedings that he becomes directly involved.

Overall, I feel confident recommending Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in spite of the flawed later sections as it does not entirely obscure the films strengths. This is a pleasant movie with interesting characters and that also touches upon some deeper themes.