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Being at Home with Claude (Canadian French)

By Golu
This one falls into that darker corner of gay cinema. There was real potential buried in here, but the execution feels so flat that at points it plays out more like a filmed stage play than an actual movie. It's a dark psychological drama built around a street hustler confessing to a brutal, confusing murder of his own lover. Black and white flashback sequences do a solid job laying out the details of what happened, but the real focus stays on the dialogue and the writing itself. Right at the start, a young hustler has already killed his male lover Claude. Three days go by before he calls the police to turn himself in for the murder. But instead of just reporting it somewhere ordinary, he actually summons the police and the local press directly into a judge's private chambers. Yves has keys to the place, which tracks given what he does for a living, but having the press waiting right outside makes the whole scene look like some elaborate blackmail scheme against the judge. The ...
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The Happy Sad

By Golu
I was quite anxious to watch this film. I have been missing NYC quite a bit and this would have been one way to get back at those old days at least by virtue of locations. Honestly at that point, going to the OIA film festival, it wasn't really important for me whether the film was gonna be good or bad. A film about 2 couples, a gay and a straight, and how their lives intercept with each other, form the crux of the plot. The movie blends racial and sexual diversity into a modest exploration of hooking up in our modern world.

Marcus and Aron are a very happy gay couple who have been together for 6 years. Since its been a while, the couple decides to open up the relationship. They decide to not talk about various rules. The only rule is that they cannot fall in love with another person. Meanwhile, in the restaurant where Aaron waits table, we meet Annie who is there to break up with his 20 something boyfriend Stan because he is not stable in life. Unable to find a suitable excuse for break-up she says she is lesbian and wants to explore the other side of her sexuality. A series of co-incidences follow, which is weird but we will call in cinematic liberty. Marcus ends up meeting Stan on an internet date because Stan is heartbroken because of Annie. Annie starts gravitating towards her colleague Mandy who is dealing with her own family personal issues. Aaron meanwhile is having fun on the side with lot of men but does get jealous seeing Marcus with someone else. Things get to a complicated stage when Marcus starts falling for Stan. Stan and Annie meet after a long time and want to give it a try again but they both agree that they will not out any boundaries in the relationship and they are both open to explore their sexualities. Meanwhile Marcus and Aaron are finally falling apart. Marcus is totally in love with Stan and Aaron can't handle it any more and moves out. All the 4 characters in the film goes through a major change throughout and no one gets a proper conclusion.

The fact that there is no closure to any character is both a good and a bad thing. The film just ends and the viewers wonder what would happen. But I was ok because we can each then have our own interpretation. The acting by all characters is quite nice. They all seem very natural and comfortable which makes the viewing a pleasure. Stan was a cute twin with most beautiful eyes while Aaron and Marcus both acted very well. The film’s several sex scenes are handled with admirable composure, and the gay trysts are granted just as much attention as the straight ones. The film was quite straight forward yet complex. Was there anything extraordinary in the film? Not really!! But then it wasn't a bad film either.

I would keep this one as strictly average. (5.5/10)
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