Film Analysis | Film Reviews

Festival Treasures

1 May , 2003  

Written by Chris Cooke | Posted by:

Reviews of several films from the 19th Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival taking place May 1-18 at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts: 'Walking on Water,' 'Fine Dead Girls,' and 'A.K.A.'

"Walking on Water"

When Tony Ayres’ "Walking on Water" begins, we immediately see the happy camaraderie between Gavin (David Bonney), Charlie (Vince Colosimo), and Anna (Maria Theodorakis). We know it’s a set-up, of course. In the movies, a happy beginning always sets the stage for disaster. In this case, a quick coughing fit from Gavin provides the cue for what’s to come. Months later, Gavin — skeletal, retching blood — lies on his deathbed. His family and closest friends have gathered to see him off. He’s made out his will, arranged his own death, and confided in Anna his wishes for his funeral arrangements.

As in all the best-laid plans, Gavin’s euthanasia doesn’t proceed as expected, and all those present — Charlie in particular — must learn to live with the gruesome results. Gavin’s mother resents Anna’s intimacy with her son, with whom she had lost contact. His brother tries to reconcile his own life with Gavin’s, and his wife just seems to get in the way. Charlie’s roommate/boyfriend Frank, eager to hit the discos and have some fun, grows impatient with Charlie’s guilt-ridden brooding. Anna, Gavin’s business associate and closest friend but never his lover, finds herself alienated, without a shoulder to cry on.

Predictably, the survivors seek oblivion in smoke, drink, and an assortment of self-destructive behaviors (the first 30 minutes of the film are as effective an anti-smoking campaign as I’ve ever seen). But "Walking on Water" is hardly the sentimental tearjerker or dreary mope-fest that you might expect. Ayres wisely avoids the standard weepy scenes — even pokes savage fun at them. There’s a dark humor at play behind much of the film, and an eagerness to grasp the myriad complexities of loss. No one is innocent here, and no easy answers await. Colosimo and Theodorakis give remarkable performances. "Walking on Water" stands out as a fresh look at the heartlessness of death and those who survive it and find the strength to carry on.

"Fine Dead Girls"

Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, forms the backdrop of Dalibor Matanic’s "Fine Dead Girls," a seething tale of petty hatreds and violent desire. When Iva (Olga Pakalovic) and Marija (Nina Violic) move into a new apartment, their pushy landlady Olga (Inge Apelt) instantly singles out Iva as a nice match for her son Daniel (Kresimir Mikic). What Olga doesn’t realize is that Iva and Marija are a lesbian couple. The apartment building soon proves host to an assortment of perverse characters — from Dr. Peric, a retired gynecologist who performs illegal abortions on the premises, to the wife-beating war veteran Lasic, who blasts obnoxious music late at night just to get to sleep, and Mr. Rukavina, whose wife seems to have disappeared shortly before a strange odor began wafting out from his flat. Things heat up when a mysterious old man hires their downstairs neighbor Lidija, a prostitute, to seduce Iva and break up the couple. Lidija and Daniel both vie for Iva’s attention, prompting jealous complaints from Marija. Olga’s sympathetic husband Blaz makes futile attempts to diffuse the tensions.

The story, set a few years back, is framed by a present-day police investigation of the disappearance of Iva’s child, whom Iva claims was abducted by Olga. Given the occasional reminders of political and ethnic turmoil, it’s hard not to interpret the conflict in the apartment building as a metaphor for those in Croatia’s recent past. The scenes in the apartment building are shot with an eerie crimson hue, amplifying the hellishness of the situation. With all the corruption and hatred that consumes the apartment’s inhabitants, it should come as no surprise that, among all the transgressions present– prostitution, domestic abuse, illegal abortion, and eventually much worse — it is Iva and Marija’s relationship that is demonized. All the building’s inhabitants find themselves caught up in and actively or passively responsible for the catastrophic events that ensue, yet "Fine Dead Girls" does offer some hope for redemption and healing. Matanic has built a fine film out of the ruins of his homeland.

"AKA"

"AKA," written and directed by Duncan Roy, is a risk-taking film, in both style and content. Based on a true story, "AKA" follows roughly the same story as "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Catch Me If You Can" — only without all that Hollywood shimmer. Dean Page (Matthew Leitch), son of a brutal British working class father and a waitress mother (Lindsey Coulson) in awe of the privileged clientele she serves, wants to go to college. His father will hear nothing of it, and kicks Dean out of the house. Dean, a handsome young man, manages to sneak his way into the circles of aristocracy, quietly navigating through the petty social squabbles, bored sexual escapades, substance abuse, and escapism of the well-to-do.

Posing as the son of Lady Francine Gryffoyn (Diana Quick) and living off stolen money, Dean finds himself taken under the wing of a middle-aged homosexual aristocrat (George Asprey) and befriended by his protégé, the charismatic Benjamin (Peter Youngblood Hills). Like Dean, Benjamin has fled an abusive father in search of a new self. Dean’s sexuality remains a mystery for much of the film — he seems equally ambivalent towards both women and men — but in Benjamin, Dean finally finds someone with whom he feels a genuine connection. Throughout, Dean’s escapades are never romanticized. The hole he digs for himself to escape from home seems more and more of a trap as the film progresses.

Cinematically, "AKA" occupies three separate frames, laid out horizontally across the screen. Each frame shows a different angle on the scene at hand, often chronologically out-of-synch a few seconds, sometimes flashing back or even just ahead to different scenes entirely. It makes for difficult viewing, especially at first, before the plot has kicked in.

Style and content, in the greatest works of art, always relate to and comment on one another. Recent efforts such as "Time Code" and "Group" have utilized similar technique. In "Time Code," the plot and characters seem a mere excuse to make a fun film with four simultaneous frames following four different characters, all in real time. "Group," which chronicles several weeks of group therapy with six frames, each focused on a different participant, is strong in character development but sketchy in the plot department. Stylistically, though, the six cameras in "Group" draw you in, make you feel a part of the sessions, and immerse you in the experience.

Here, the story seems good enough to stand on its own. Several times in "AKA,"

I was tempted to throw up my hands in desperation. What’s the point of such unnecessary experimentation that seems to add so little? Yet by the film’s end, I found myself unable to imagine the film without it. The split frame presentation magnifies Dean’s awe and confusion at his surroundings, echoes his fragmented sense of self. Unafraid to challenge his audience, Roy has sculpted a rugged, complex film. "AKA" is worth the effort.

The 19th Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival screens May 1 – 18 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. See http://www.mfa.org/film/2003_gay_lesbian for details.
In related events, The Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival will present a special screening of ‘Giorni’ (Days) at the Aetna Theater of the Wadsworth Atheneum on Thursday, May 15 at 7:30pm.
For more information about ‘Fine Dead Girls,’ visit www.dalibormatanic.com/f-djevojke.htm. For more information about ‘AKA,’ visit www.akamovie.com.


The 19th Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival screens May 1 - 18 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. See http://www.mfa.org/film/2003_gay_lesbian for details. In related events, The Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival will present a special screening of 'Giorni' (Days) at the Aetna Theater of the Wadsworth Atheneum on Thursday, May 15 at 7:30pm. For more information about 'Fine Dead Girls,' visit www.dalibormatanic.com/f-djevojke.htm. For more information about 'AKA,' visit www.akamovie.com.

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