Tuesday, January 03, 2012
HOMOCATHOLIC MELODRAMA
Today's Fifty Gay Favorites was
There is a lot going on in this picture.
At its center is a mock trial for a Bishop who falsely accused another boy at his school for murder and arson. There is a clever ruse to get the bishop to the prison in which the lifer is now interned and from there we go to a reenactment by other prisoners of the original "crime" and other events of the time.
The film turns from bare chapel courtroom to "real" outdoors scenes and then to an over the top fantasy story to back up the bare bones story we are seeing in the court.
It is a bit camp here and there but for some reason it retains our attention and adds fuel (as well as time) to the energy of the story and the courtroom drama.
At bottom, it is about a catholic boys school and the gay roots of the story.
For more you would have to see it. And, actually, believe it. The true test of a movie script is that it can be brought to its own life by the actors and the direction. At this level, with all the hoo hah the production succeeds admirably. Even when I didn't know what was going on, I liked it.
I saw it before and it was good to see it again. Everyone who counts is good looking and the ending is stunning. A 4 out of Netflix5.
