Friday, January 13, 2012
DOCUDRAMA
Today's gay interest film was
This film was a phenom when it came out. It was a movie about a real man, master artist David Hockney with his friends acting out a story which might or might not be true but was pretty close to what was happening to them. Psychodrama? Some of it seems so.
That Hockney was and is homosexual necessitated a pretty open telling and showing of who and what. The story is about Hockney's life in London and his longing to get away.
We see elements of his creation of the first California paintings. The talk is endless but interesting.
There is real live sex!
Most of the story revolves around the breakup of the relationship between Hockney's most famous model Peter Schlesinger. Who is in the film!
The whole enterprise is crazy good. Visual excitement with the paintings. His personality. And remember at the time of this film, thirty seven years ago, he was already famous or, certainly after this film, infamous.
"The gays" lined up outside the theater in Boston. Most saw it twice. I have seen it at least five times. It was better stoned, then. But today it is fascinating to see into gay lives at that time. Gay bohemia.
Wonderful wonderful. A five.
Today, Hockney is still a great innovator. One part of the story of this film is the end of his "people" paintings. Masterpieces that show all of his friends in some aspect of their lives. His "disappearance" is emblematic of the end of this part of his career. He still does portraiture but it is quite a different thing.
A 5! A five!
And if you get some insights from seeing it let me know because I am still trying to figure everything and everyone out.
Oh. Just for the record, the film was met by contempt and bafflement by the art and cinema world. Making it all the more gay and very special.
The trailer is sort of a goof. Satire on a tongue and cheek film.
