Gay Movie Review: Beauty.

Summary:

In this award-winning South African film, a homophobe becomes obsessed with a young man who sees him as a mentor. Francois (Deon Lotz) can’t control his desires, or his violent temper.

Text:

Francois (Deon Lotz) seems distant both as a father and husband, despite his success as a businessman and his apparent concern for his wife and daughter. He refers derisively to gays and people of color. On the side, he takes part in a secretive sex group that only includes white men.

Francois acts coldly towards his wife, who might also be seeking sex outside their marriage. He scolds and complains about his daughter, rarely showing affection to her.

At the beginning of the movie, Francois sees the son of an old family friend. Christian (Charlie Keegan) has grown into a strikingly handsome and charming young man who considers Francois his mentor. Francois quickly becomes obsessed with Charlie.

Besides the other revelations, we also receive hints that Francois once had some sort of angry episode and still needs a doctor’s attention to control his temper. Everything keeps leading to the idea that Francois will soon make some terrible decisions. However, the film hardly becomes predictable.

The camera sometimes seems to linger too long before and after scenes, and parts of the movie left me wondering what had happened. All of that might reflect cultural differences in film-making, or just Oliver Hermanus’s individual style as a director. Regardless, I still kept thinking about the film after watching it.

Hermanus and a talented cast present a picture of bigotry, both how it hurts society and how it hurts the people who hold bigoted views. While the film also looks at the dangers of hiding secrets or ignoring mental problems, the ugliness of hatred destroys Francois even more than his drinking and his anger. Deon Lotz gives a haunting performance in the lead role and helps make Beauty a brutal but memorable tragedy.

Beauty is in Afrikaans and English, with English subtitles. It won the Queer Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and it was South Africa’s official selection for the 2012 Academy Awards.

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Gay Movie Review: Four More Years.

Summary:

This Swedish import looks at the falsities and hypocrisy of political life within the framework of a light-hearted romantic comedy. Laughs usually dominate, despite some tender moments.

Text:

It looks like David Holst (Bjorn Kjellmann) will become a Prime Minister soon in Sweden, thanks to the efforts of his wife Fia (Tova Magnusson-Norling). David’s political prospects become complicated, however, when he meets opposing party member Martin Kovac (Eric Ericson). Sparks fly immediately, and neither man can deny the attraction.

The relationship often leads to humorous situations, as they try to hide their growing love from their families, their parties, and the general public. Their scenes with David’s parents are especially funny. Still, the chemistry between the two male leads brings a truly romantic depth to the story.

Besides playing Fia, Tova Magnusson-Norling also directed this light-hearted comedy. The story only slows down or gets serious a few times, but those moments stand out as especially tender. The rest of the time, the talented cast just delivers one funny line after another. Fortunately, Magnusson manages to save some of the best scenes for herself; Fia proves as insightful about love as politics.

The English subtitles change a bit quickly during the montage of opening scenes, but are easy to read during the rest of the film. The foreign setting never takes away from the universal themes.

Four More Years tackles the frequent hypocrisy and pretense of politics while also showing how ambition can often interfere with love and happiness. I love the strong character development and irreverent humor in Wilhelm Behrman’s script.

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Overcoming Bullying, Joseph's Story From Friend Film

Part of a new film series, in connection with the upcoming gay-themed movie Friend. Director Elliot London (The Wedding Dance) is working on the project.