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Review:
Movie Review: Uncut (1997)
Independent (dir. John Greyson, who also
directed Lilies)
R
8.0/10
This is another satirical "frame" film, where the underlying
theme is freedom of speech and all the ways intellectual property law can
apparently interfere with it. On the surface, it starts with the story of an
appealing young writer who presents his book on circumcision [tying it to
homophobia] to a bizarre typing pool on the roof of a government office
building in Ottawa. The typist
has been sending threatening letters to Prime Minister Trudeau. Soon two more
characters appear: a writer compiling a history of gay erotica, already
complaining about his lawyers, and an actor getting threats for his copycat
imitations of Michael Jackson. Eventually, three of them wind up in an
outdoor boot-camp style jail for their intellectual property crimes. All
kinds of pot-shots get taken at intellectual property torts, at one point the
Habanera from Bizet's Carmen is sung with an
anagram based on the various pitfalls. Another funny point is the flaming of
the copyright symbol ("Ó
"), comparing it to a phallus. The only problem is that not many people
except gay authors or entertainers (and their lawyers) will get the point. A
few very erotic scenes - Greyson really likes to go
after chests.
Lilies (“Les feluettes”)
(1996, Triptych/Turbulent, dir. John Greyson, 95
min) showed in Minneapolis in
1998 at the Reading, which
normally showed only big studio movies. This is a retrospective story of a Quebec
seminary love affair in 1912 between drama student Vallier
(Danny Gilmore) and Simon (Jason Cadieux). Forty
years later Bishop Bilodeau (Marcel Sabourin) visits the Quebec prison and watches a play
recreating what hap happened in 1912 (an interesting way to tell a layered story).
The young Bilodeau (Matthew Ferguson) was there,
too. This film has a particularly provocative bathtub shot of the young
Simon. Cadieux pops one’s eyes.
Fortune in
Men’s Eyes (1971, MGM, dir. Harvey
Hart, 102 min, R) was a famous film taking place in a cold Quebec prison,
with characters Smitty (Wendell Burton) who
experience horrific conditions along with the drag queen (“Queenie”) (Michael Greer), Rocky (Zooey
Hall) and Mona (Danny Freedman). There
is one notorious scene where Queenie shows absolutely
everything, but it is not at all erotic. But this film was considered
indicative of how to handle gay subjects during its time.
Midnight
Express (1978, Columbia, dir.
Alan Parker, based on the book by Billy Hayes and William Hofer) depicts the
brutal stay of Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) in a Turkish prison after being
caught trying to smuggle marijuana. Many people considered the torture scenes
involving Billy to be frankly homoerotic as S&M, but I don’t know if the
movie would come across that way today,
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