Saturday, June 16, 2012
HAPPIER
Today's gay film was Wong Kar-wai's
with Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai.
I have seen this several times. The film is structured around a simple story of two men who cannot get it together for any length of time but keep trying until one meets another (mostly platonic) man and steps away from the conflict.
It is less a gay film than a film that happens to be gay. But it is two men doing man things to avoid intimacy so, well, I guess it is kinda gay.
The film is "experimental" in that it is not conventional in any way. Cinematography, structure and the like are all a bit out there but the story is simple if the people are not and the whole enterprise holds together quite successfully.
Wong Kar-wai is a great movie maker and I have seen all of his films that are available on DVD.
This film seems to turn the idea of happiness upside down. By no objective measure are these two guys happy. But they are in love. Very much so.
They are in Argentina. Away from home. They absorb the local culture. The tango is at the center of the relationship. See? That come and go and love and repel shit that those dancers do.
The centerpiece of the film is a tango by the two men in a rooming house kitchen. Hot. And they have just been fighting with each other.
I really like the complexity of this film. It is gritty and beautiful.
The third man who shows up is totally agreeable and happy. He is attracted to the nice member of the couple. There is hope here for a future. Some have hoped for a second film to show the next phase. Always leave them wanting more. A Wong Kar-wai specialty.
I am one of them.
This is a 5 out of Netflix5.
Labels: gay films
