BFI Flare 2019 (reviews) – Featuring We the Animals, Knife + Heart, Girl, Vita and Virginia, Last Ferry, Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life, Tucked, Nevrland, Socrates, Jose and Giant Little Ones.
WE THE ANIMALS
Based on Justin Torres’s acclaimed novel We the Animals, Jeremiah Zagar’s debut feature is a visually stunning, powerful, and poetic film. But it also carries a darker side as it explores childhood poverty, family breakdown and emerging sexuality through a series of dream-like memories. From the outset, We the Animals immerses us in a child-centred portrait of family life, confusion and brotherly love while carefully weaving in the harsh realities of poverty and isolation. Here, We the Animals gives voice to the beauty and expression of childhood imagination, as well as to the barriers posed by stifled opportunity and insecurity. The result is a complex portrait of childhood memory that never hesitates to delve into the bewildering, opaque feelings of coming of age.
KNIFE + HEART
What do you get if you take 70s gay porn and mix it with the classic 80s slasher? The answer is Knife + Heart. Set in Paris, matriarch and auteur Anne (Vanessa Paradis) spends her time persuading amateur men to perform in a series of gay porn movies. Each young hopeful leaves their menial day job in the hope of fame while finally being allowed to embrace their sexuality free from hate or oppression – their taught and toned bodies becoming the stuff of gay legend in queer XXX cinemas.
However, when Anne’s buff young film stars begin to die at the hands of a mysterious leather-faced murderer equipped with a deadly bladed dildo, Anne quickly changes the title of her new movie to ‘Homocidal’ and embarks on a creative mission to uncover the killer’s identity through film.
Yann Gonzalez’s film not only celebrates the history of gay porn and horror but wraps his narrative journey in a series of social discussions as ’70s gay liberation was replaced by fear, discrimination, and AIDS took hold. The result is a gay slasher that pays homage to William Friedkin’s Cruising, the budget gay porn of the 70s, Giallo, and the simmering sexual tension of Stranger by the Lake.
There are nods to classic horror, including An American Werewolf in London, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. Yet Knife + Heart also feels utterly unique—a camp horror film full to the brim with broader discussions of the intersection between sex and art in film. As a result, Gonzalez offers us something unique and compelling in the landscape of LGBTQ+ horror as he bathes us in an intoxicating and proudly queer mix of artistic styles that are as sharp as the razor-lined dildo the killer wields.
GIRL
Inspired by the real-life story of Nora Monsecour, Lukas Dhont’s debut feature received both praise and criticism following its premiere at Cannes last year. The praise centred on Dhont’s urgent, timely exploration of the emotional and physical complexities of transitioning for many young people. In contrast, the criticism centred on his choice to cast a cisgender young man in the lead role. For me, the criticism, while understandable, was misplaced in a film that placed the trans journey centre stage.
Lara (Victor Polster) is a young trans woman passionate about her future career as a ballerina at one of Belgium’s most prestigious dance schools. Like the other girls, Lara has to contend with the school’s strict training programme. But unlike the girls who whisper and gossip behind her back, she is also dealing with the physical, emotional and social transition to the person she knows she is. The medium of film has always carried the power to challenge public perceptions, increase audience understanding and lay bare the complexity of being you in a world that wants you to conform to a set of strict ideas.
Victor Polster’s performance is truly exceptional, making the criticisms levelled at him even more unfortunate. Polster offers a nuanced, profoundly emotional portrayal of a teenager in transition, demonstrating the complexity of emotions surrounding an urgent desire to embrace both inner and outer self.
Dhont places the powerful emotions surrounding Lara in a ballet world, with body conformity, change, and art woven into a breathtaking and urgent dance toward freedom, self-love, and transformation. Dhont rejects many of the usual clichés found in LGBTQ+ films, as Lara’s father attempts to guide and support her transition while understanding that the journey is outside of his complete control. After all, Lara isn’t just transitioning. She is facing the sexual awakening all teenagers attempt to navigate, one that is all the more complex as she also explores her emerging sexuality in relation to her new gender identity.
VITA AND VIRGINIA
Exploring the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West in the years preceding Woolf’s acclaimed and controversial publication of Orlando, Button’s film should have offered a rich tapestry of literature and sexuality in a society where female sexuality and freedom were oppressed. However, while Vita & Virginia at times shines in its navigation of the love story at its heart, it fails to rise above a style-over-substance approach. Visually a delight, Vita & Virginia beautifully captures the atmosphere of 1920s Bermondsey; yet, its screenplay feels decidedly Enid Blyton-esque in construction. There is no doubt about the solid performances of Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki, but the screenplay never truly allows them to shine, as the film jumps from scene to scene, leaving little room for on-screen relationships to reach their full potential.
LAST FERRY
In recent years, we have been offered some truly sublime LGBTQ+-themed thrillers, from the Hitchcockian Stranger by the Lake to the neon slasher brilliance of Knife+Heart. Jaki Bradley’s Last Ferry has clear ambitions of joining this list of LGBTQ+ thriller and horror classics, but unfortunately, it fails spectacularly! Joseph (Ramon O. Torres) is a disillusioned Manhattan lawyer searching for something new as he ditches work, gets on a ferry, and heads out to Fire Island during the winter season. However, upon meeting a stranger, events quickly spiral out of his control as he meets a group of gay men where secrets sit beneath the surface of pleasure and friendship.
From the outset, Last Ferry feels rushed in its screenplay development, performances, and editing. And while the cinematography of Alexa Wolf offers glimmers of hope in an otherwise dull seaside thriller, it’s never enough to maintain viewer engagement. Making any film on a $50,000 budget is tough, and the production team should be commended for attempting to offer us something different. But alas, in this case, it feels as if someone took an extinguisher to Fire Island and covered it with a dull, lifeless powder.
JONATHAN AGASSI SAVED MY LIFE
Tomer Heymann is one of the brightest documentary filmmakers currently in the industry, and his new film, Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life, was eight years in the making. Exploring the life of porn superstar Jonathan Agassi, Heymann offers us a nuanced commentary on the inner workings of the porn industry, Agassi’s home life, differing personas and personal demons. From the outset, Heymann never attempts to mute or censor the life of Agassi or the rough edges of a gay porn industry built on money, fantasy and men as buyable and sellable commodities. Here, Agassi bravely places himself, his family and his insecurities and struggles in front of the camera, lifting the veil on the real man beneath the image and body owned by millions of men worldwide.
Heymann allows Agassi to control the camera, offering us a documentary that explores the light and the dark of a double life and a brave personal journey where drugs, mental health and internal battles haunt every new sex scene and public performance.
BFI FLARE 2019 – REVIEWS
TUCKED
Jamie Patterson’s low-budget Tucked is a rare gem, exploring themes of mortality, intergenerational friendships, and age in the LGBTQ+ community through exquisite performances full of humour and love. Filmed over ten days in Brighton, Tucked delivers a funny and deeply emotional character study that never succumbs to stereotypes or clichés.
Jackie or Jack (Derren Nesbitt) is an ageing drag queen who still performs a routine of one-liners and musical numbers on the vibrant Brighton gay scene. On finding out he has terminal cancer, Jackie befriends a 21-year-old drag performer, Faith (Jordan Stephens), who is new to the scene, and it is not long before the unlikely pair strike up a friendship, first of convenience and then of belonging and care as Jackie prepares for his final performance. Jamie Patterson delivers a genuinely remarkable film on a shoestring budget, celebrating life, love, and friendship through the delightful performances of Nesbitt and Stephens, which carries a surprisingly heavy emotional punch.
NEVRLAND
Gregor Schmidinger’s debut feature, Nevrland, offers a complex and intoxicating blend of themes. Its narrative takes us from modern masculinity to mental health and sexuality, while simultaneously taking us on a journey from adolescence to adulthood. Nevrland cleverly explores themes of family, suppressed desire, and fantasy through Jakob’s journey (Simon Frühwirth), while never offering simple answers.
Schmidinger’s film is a striking exploration of mental health, desire, and self-identity, using a kaleidoscope of powerful imagery to convey the inner turmoil and conflict of teenage life. Schmidinger confidently and artistically uses his CinemaScope vista and dynamic sound to create an inner world of adolescent thoughts, from dream-like feelings of fear to urgent desire. The result is a film that burns with energy and colour, providing a fascinating and intoxicating mix of passion, anxiety and escape in what can only be described as a truly unique vision of the human mind.
BFI FLARE 2019 REVIEWS
SOCRATES
Socrates (Christian Malheiros) is fifteen years old when his life is thrown into turmoil by the sudden death of his mother. Struggling to keep his head above water on the streets of São Paulo, Socrates attempts to keep the family home running. But poverty and isolation are only a part of Socrates’ troubles as he navigates his emerging sexuality on city streets where safety cannot be taken for granted, especially for a young gay man.
As Socrates attempts to find a route through the grief, poverty, and volatility around him, he meets a young labourer and enters into a secretive affair. But all is not as it first appears, and Socrates is about to discover that secrets and lies thread through the gay male experience in a country where homosexuality is feared and oppressed. Alexandre Moratto’s debut feature is heartbreaking and compelling, offering a journey into grief and loss performed and produced by at-risk teens living on the streets of São Paulo.
JOSÉ
Winner of the Queer Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival, director Li Cheng’s modest and beautifully shot tale of hidden love, culture and family in Guatemala is a sublime watch. José is a 19-year-old man who supports his mother in a challenging inner-city environment in modern-day Guatemala. Offering us documentary-like realism throughout, José explores masculinity, love, and lost opportunities against a backdrop of poverty, restricted freedom, and longing for release. This is a film where honesty, natural performances, and cinematic beauty combine to offer the audience a sincere, emotional, and stunning photographic portrait of male love and cultural identity in all their depth and complexity.
BFI FLARE 2019 – REVIEWS
GIANT LITTLE ONES
Franky (Josh Wiggins) and Ballas (Darren Mann) have been close friends since childhood, spending most of their time together. However, after an alcohol-fuelled night, their friendship is tested like never before as hormonal energy and experimentation mix with explosive results. Early in the proceedings, director Keith Behrman dispenses with the tried-and-tested tropes of the high school coming-out story, opting instead for a contemporary exploration of sexuality and gender in youth culture.
Behrman reflects on the changing landscape of adolescent experience while delving into the social, gender and sexual barriers that still affect young people as they grow into young adults. Giant Little Ones explores friendship, peer pressure, and family identities as we follow young Franky, his family and friends. Josh Wiggins beautifully captures the confusion, anger, joy, trepidation, and ambiguity of teenage life, while Darren Mann’s Ballas explores the fear and uncertainty that accompany a threatened sense of self.
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