Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

So, I did not know this until after watching the film. Apparently, before losing his battle with cancer, cultural icon Julian Lee left behind an autobiographical screenplay based on his experience of the disease. Director Kit Hung brings the script to life seven years after Lee’s tragic death. So, as much as it is a tribute to the writer's semi-autobiographical story, it is a story of loneliness and a toxic love story. Also, for information, "Stoma" is an artificial surgically created opening in the abdomen to replace the anus. Alex is a young gay photographer who lives in Hong Kong, When he is diagnosed with peritoneal cancer, he starts doing his due diligence on how and where to get best treated and he decides on Switzerland. Alex has also had an on again-off again Swiss banker, who conveniently comes in and out of Alex's life as he pleases. He does care for Alex but also wants to stay independent and sleep around. Alex comes to Switzerland stays with his brother wh...

Nr. 47 is a Swiss web series with four seasons. No. 47 refers to the address of an apartment block in Bern where several young adults live. The series shows her life and addresses the concerns and fears of young people in their early 20s. Over 3 seasons it takes one individual and tells the story from their point of view. There is a gay storyline in season 2 of the show which focuses on Dominic, a closeted gay rapper over 5 episodes. Someone posted the edited version of all scenes including Dominic and I am glad I got to see the high level love story of Dominic without having to sit through details of all 4 seasons. Dominic is closed, unapproachable and often follows his thoughts over texts. He is a rapper, part of a band and lives with his friend. He has not yet revealed to his friends and family that he is gay and he is also trying to keep this secret to himself. So far, this has also worked well. But things change when one day he meets Tim, a bartender at the place where Dominic goe...

I have always enjoyed independent films who have something different to say and are about 'different' and possible weird fucked up people in their own way. Set in a small coastal town of Georgia near Black Sea, sure this film deals with homosexuality but more than that its about this small tight community and its small mindedness and prejudices against anything thats not normal and what it does to people who are affected by it. In a beautiful opening shot, an old man is fully dressed waiting for someone for dinner, wrapping a letter in a wine bottle and looking at the full moon listening to sound of waves. Next day, the news spread that the old man committed suicide, since he had cancer for few years and couldn't bear the pain. THis is a very small community where everyone knows everyone and for some reason the people have resented the old man since he always kept to himself. Except for old Amnon and a young girl Fleshka who run a beach cafe Wet Sand. This duo are also outs...

I think I saw this way before I started writing my blog here, so it was a bit nostalgic to watch it again, but also good in a way since I pretty much didn't remember anything at all about the film. I think some of these older films have a certain charm to them. They are not very complicated, easy to keep your attention and have something fun and meaningful to say to us as audience. The film is light, funny and not stupid. Jean-Pierre is a college professor who is in a relationship with Armando, a cuban masseur; but due to his status and his work with charity organization, he is not out to his friends and work, but still most people know about him. One day suddenly by luck of draw the court appoints him as guardian for an underage troubled kid Antione. He is. very upset and wants to contest the application. Also it turns out that he was once married to a woman, who he has not divorced. He asks her to come back to his life, much to the jealousy of Armando, because JP thinks that once...

Someone has said it rightly that when you fall in love, you really can't see anything else. Love sometimes has the ability to give sense to an existence which has no meaning. Some love stories can be dark, disturbing, sexy and damaging but you ask people in the situation they will tell you a different story. This film from almost 25 years ago is one such story of first love, first sex and also how love can manipulate you. The story is simple. A young fifteen year old Beni is infatuated with Fogi, the lead singer of a rock band. When Beni confesses his love to Fogi, he takes Beni along with him on various road trips for band performance and also seduces him sexually. Beni's first love and sex with Fogi is like a dream come true and Beni is madly in love. But Fogi is a drug addict and also sleeps around. Beni, hurt initially, soon gets used to the arrangement. But slowly, knowingly and willingly (as a minor), Beni also starts getting deep involved in drug abuse. When Fogi's c...

Stories about migrant families in relation to the queer aspects have always fascinated me. Normally, you see subjects that deal with these families' inherent bias towards their own traditions and trying to assimilate themselves in the western culture. Stuff like homosexuality always throws them off leading to conflicts which is always a subject for wonderful drama. Set in Switzerland, this story is about a Turkish migrant family. Beyto is the only son of migrant Turkish family in Switzerland who own a kebab store. Beyto is ideal son, student and well liked at work. As he spends more time with his swimming mentor Mike, they both realize that they like each other. In love with Mike and tired of hiding himself, the news soon reach his family and spreads fast in the community. The parents who are still bound to the patriarchal and heteronormative society of their Turkish village, they trick Beyto into going with them to Turkey with a secret plan to get him married to his childhood frie...

This film is technically not a gay film to be precise. This is more of a relationship that an ailing mother shares with her children , especially her gay son. And since, the son being gay is an important aspect of the series, I am ok writing down a review of the film here. Originally titled as Rosie, I think the film's title was changed to attract more gay audience, because the gay son is definitely not the central character. Its the mother. Rosie is old and lives by herself and one day falls and is admitted to the hospital. His gay son Lorenz who lives in Berlin, comes back to take care of her. Lorenzo, who is in his mid 40s, writes gay fiction but of late his books are not getting good reviews. He also has a sister who is herself dealing with her family issues. They both argue that neither of them can take care of the mother. But Rosie herself insists that she wants to stay independent and refuses any help. Lorenz struggles with her strong-willed mother but ultimately gives ...

If you read the summary of the film which says " a love story of gay footballers", you will think you have seen a few films before on the subject and thats exactly what OI thought too. But the treatment and the focus of this film is different and actually much deeper. The sexuality is not brushed aside but the focus is more on how to deal with it in 2018 and like one man says in the movie that its ok to be gay but not ok for sportsmen. A beautiful love story that grows slowly and ends open ended. I am glad I saw this film. Mario, early 20s, is the start striker player of his team, highest scorer and has a big chance to being promoted to the main squad. Things change slightly, when another star player Leon from Germany is added to the team. Since he is also a striker, pretty soon him and Mario share an amazing chemistry on the football field. Mario has been so busy with the game that he has not had chance to think about his sexuality but he cannot help but notice the very...

I think I saw this film long time ago but I really can’t remember much (including the fact of I have even seen it). I started to like the film initially, especially since the lead was quite cute in a very interesting sort of way. Its difficult to describe his looks. Anyway, as the movie progressed, boredom started taking over and i wasn’t sure where this film was headed. I believe that the film was not just about the male protagonist. Equally important was his relationship with his best friend Marie. We meet Loic, a twenty year old very beautiful guy, who works in a chocolate factory by the day and spends pretty much all his nights having anonymous sex either online or through cruising the streets. All he cares about his physical satisfaction, until he meets Lionel (whom we never see), who is more interested in Loic’s personality , history, likes and dislikes rather than going to bed with him. And this is a new feeling for Loic. He shacks up with his best friend Marie, who works a...

An excellent subject, a different take on gay relationship from the point of view of the battered wife but only if the direction could have been as effective as the basic story plot. The director has understood the subject well but has handled the situations in a very superficial manner where as a viewer you don’t empathise with any character at all. Alice and Frank are a happy couple with 3 kids and have recently moved to their new home. They have been married 18 years and have no issues at all and are a perfect family. One day Alice finds gay porn in browsing history of their home computer. Frank doesn't deny that the links are his and initially cites his interest as a sexual curiosity. Alice, though visibly uncomfortable, doesn't react in a cinematically conventional way. She opens up a dialogue about the subject and asks if Frank would like to experiment with threesomes. Frank dismisses it and tries to suppress his feelings but eventually can’t continue to fake and tel...

This was a very interestingly done documentary-drama that depicts the social scene that revolved around Der Kreis (The Circle), a gay publication in Zurich, in the 1940s and 1950s. The magazine was published from 1932 to 1967 and distributed internationally and was also used as a scapegoat for the murders of several gay men in the city. The docudrama primarily focusses on relationship of Ernst Ostertag and Röbi Rapp, which is told through documentary interviews with this sweet elderly couple and a conscientious dramatization of their courtship in the 1950s. The Circle, is not a magazine but is also a gay community within itself. This is during the time when things in Zurich were a bit more lenient compared to anywhere else in the world. This is where Ernst and Robi meet. Ernst is a girls high school teacher while Robi is the main drag act performer for the club’s ball parties. We see how the two lovers meet and their story goes forward. Things are done in secrecy but it is still i...

I loved this film. There is so much more to gay cinema than just petty repeatable themes. It is no nice, warm and refreshing to see something different that comes along the way and touches your heart completely. This film is a very good example of how you can have emotions, drama and a small touch of comedy and still make a film that talks to you and makes you think. It is not to say that the film did not have any flaws but despite everything, it made for a wonderful viewing. Moritz’s mother is an epileptic who seems to be the only person taking care of the boy.She ignores the severe headaches, until one night she feels so bad that she has to go to the neighbors to ask them to keep an eye on Moritz. The neighbors are a gay couple Ralph and Andi who themselves are struggling in this small neighborhood. The two men are not entirely happy with this new responsibility as they are already having some relationship difficulties, one is under a lot of pressure due to a possible promotion at wo...

An interesting film set in Switzerland. It will be wrong to categorize this film under gay category or maybe it wont be. The lead protagonist is gay and has a boyfriend but the film for a change is not about him being gay or anything but about trying to discover what his roots are. Lionel lives with his boyfriend Serge. One day he finds out that his grandfather came from Poland. Suddenly he starts liking everything Polish. To the extent that he meets a Polish illegal immigrant Ewa. He breaks up with his boyfriend and decides to marry Ewa so she won't be deported from Switzerland. Lionel's sister Lucie is more practical. She wants everyone to see and realize that Lionel is gay and he needs to get out this dream of being fascinated with Poland but his parents are more than happy to see him getting married and all. in a spur of moment on day she drives her brother to Poland and thats when their adventure begins. They have various encounters on the way including getting getting bea...

An emotional journey of a dead guy's 2 lovers who are on their way to throw his ashes in the sea. The movie is full of emotion moments but the relatively lower production quality dilute the impact to an extent. Steff, a carpenter wants to do some business on his own but cannot get a loan because e has low credit scores. He is frustrated by this. He one day reads in newspaper about death of Martin Hilder, son of a wealthy industrialist German family, who happened to be his lover of 3 years. Martin's family has always denied his sexual preference even to the extent that they declare his cause of death to be cancer whereas reality is he died of Aids. The funeral is also attended by Rex and Gina, friends of Hilde (thats what they called Martin) who leave the ceremony in a rage because of this. Later when Martin's will is read, he his left his flat and estate for Steff and has also desired to be crated and ashes be thrown in sea. Martin's family bargains with Steff and prpos...