Saturday, March 16, 2013
LIGHTS OUT
Today's film, a NYTime Critics' Pick was an autobiographical film by Ira Sachs,
His fifth film, this is the most personal and as Sachs is gay, so is the film.
It is about a ten year relationship. Normal ups and downs ensue complicated by the fact of his partner's addiction to crack cocaine.
While this is a cautionary tale that has to be told, crack is ferociously addictive and often kills gays disproportionately. The film is also about a romance of long standing that is able to withstand the ravages of the disease and then eventually dies of its own weight.
The love affair and the friendships and the internal and external turmoil ring very true.
The hero, Erik, is not a fool. He loves his partner and tries. They both try.
The placid, sober intervals are beautiful which makes the upsets even more distressing.
This is a difficult film, not a gay niche film, a serious feature length journey of joy and pain.
The two young stars Thure Lindhardt and Zachary Booth are wonderful. Genuine. Deep feeling. Lindhardt was the star of another serious gay film (The Brotherhood), although both films transcend the category. They are human films.
I will get this DVD for the library and certainly watch it again. There is a lot of identification here as, while I never did crack, thank god, I did need treatment and recovery and so did my partner. We worked through it and lived many of the scenes in this film. Over and over until we stopped. And then went on.
This is a 5 out of Netflix5 film.
Labels: films
