Eating Out was not my favorite film. I actually only really enjoyed one scene of the movie. So I had uncertain expectations for the director's latest, Boy Culture. Let's just say that I was surprised.
This film, I guess, is controversial to some people. The main character is a sympathetic (enough) but unapologetic male hooker. Some of the characters party and sleep around; and one of these is barely of age. As well, the lead can be downright nasty at times; and there are some sexual moments that are hardly the pretty-boy soft porn we get so often in gay film. To me, however, these seeming deficits establish Boy Culture as one of the more unique and enjoyable gay films of recent years.
It is nice to see a film that takes risks. It is also fitting, since this is a film about taking risks. I can honestly say that though many elements of the plot are not hugely original (a crush that is not acted on, a "coming out" to the family, an older man who leads our hero to greater understanding), the details of these plot threads are daring. At points, Mr. Brocka seems to take these conventions and give them a proverbial b*** slap.
Most wonderfully, though unfortunately I would not make a great hustler, I really could identify with the characters of the film. The nastiness, for example, especially in the "humor" of its characters, seemed so right. Don't most of us use humor as an emotional condom from time to time, a bit of protection from potential pain? Can't most of us identify with the desire to keep people out of our emotional soft center? The film addresses this reality in a way that can be unnerving, but is still humorous and at times extremely wise.
No, this film is not for everyone. No, the characters are not good plain assimilated folk who the straights can love and not judge. The beauty of film to me, however, is when it can find the universal in something that may be far from our experience. Deep down, I really think Boy Culture does just that.
This film, I guess, is controversial to some people. The main character is a sympathetic (enough) but unapologetic male hooker. Some of the characters party and sleep around; and one of these is barely of age. As well, the lead can be downright nasty at times; and there are some sexual moments that are hardly the pretty-boy soft porn we get so often in gay film. To me, however, these seeming deficits establish Boy Culture as one of the more unique and enjoyable gay films of recent years.
It is nice to see a film that takes risks. It is also fitting, since this is a film about taking risks. I can honestly say that though many elements of the plot are not hugely original (a crush that is not acted on, a "coming out" to the family, an older man who leads our hero to greater understanding), the details of these plot threads are daring. At points, Mr. Brocka seems to take these conventions and give them a proverbial b*** slap.
Most wonderfully, though unfortunately I would not make a great hustler, I really could identify with the characters of the film. The nastiness, for example, especially in the "humor" of its characters, seemed so right. Don't most of us use humor as an emotional condom from time to time, a bit of protection from potential pain? Can't most of us identify with the desire to keep people out of our emotional soft center? The film addresses this reality in a way that can be unnerving, but is still humorous and at times extremely wise.
No, this film is not for everyone. No, the characters are not good plain assimilated folk who the straights can love and not judge. The beauty of film to me, however, is when it can find the universal in something that may be far from our experience. Deep down, I really think Boy Culture does just that.