Lilting (East End Film Festival)

Matt Bray — 2014-06-21T16:02:12Z

Hong Khaou's study of love and loss opens with shots of 1950s patterned wallpaper and lilting background music, before panning to a vase of freshly cut hydrangea – their blue friendliness blackened by shadow. In this ‘old people's home', Junn, the Cambodian – Chinese mother of the tale, has been ‘imprisoned' by her loving son Kai– “Why did you put me here?” she asks when he visits.

Yet during these visits we witness the love they have for each other. We also feel the pressure that Kai is under to improve Junn's life and her inability to acknowledge that her son is gay. Kai is ‘in the closet' to his mother and since he lives with his partner of four years, Richard, it is unclear what he can do to make her happier – could he ‘come out' and ask her to go and live with them? The scene is playing out gently when Junn turns around to look at Kai, who is on the bed talking, only he's no longer there. In a shockingly sad twist, delivered early on, we realise that Kai is dead. Junn is searching for solace by replaying their conversations, remembering his physical presence and his touch.

As the film moves back and forward between the past and present, the relationship unfolds before us. Likewise the love affair between Kai and Richard is beautifully played out - kissing, touching, dancing, holding, talking, laughing, fighting. Left alone and heartbroken, Richard reaches out to Junn and begins to visit her. Junn cannot speak English and Richard cannot speak any of the six languages that Junn knows. With the aid of a translator he continues to visit her and shares some of his grief, adopting the accepted role of Kai's ‘best friend'. Denied the role of ‘widow', his level of grief remains contained.

The pivotal moment between the two occurs towards the end of the film when they sit at Richard's kitchen table and, without the aid of the translator, begin to talk. Both are scared, weary and confused, and as they reveal the level of their grief, we observe the power of emotion to transcend language. In a powerful and moving scene, the two people who love Kai the most share their pain.

The tragedy of the film considers not only death, but the sadness of a life denied. For Junn it's easier to mourn an idealized version of her dead son than it was to love the reality of his lived life. During Kai's life, Junn was so unable to overcome the fear of knowing the gay son that she dearly loves that she ended up ‘imprisoned' in an old people's home. After his death, she is left there, surrounded by angry wallpaper and mournful flowers, fearing the loneliness of Christmas day.

Director: Hong Khaou Running time: 91min Year: 2014

Stranger by the Lake (L'inconnu du Lac)

Matt Bray — 2014-04-17T09:23:41Z

Alain Guiraudie's erotic gay thriller is located in rural France and takes place over ten summer days. Set on the shores of a vast inviting lake, a small group of men spend the day building up all-over tans in between swimming and cruising around the adjoining forest. We quickly fall into the world of the film and Guiraudie presents with ease the rituals that these gay men enjoy as they escape the confines of heterosexual society. However, we quickly feel that all is not well in ‘Gay Utopia'. Warnings of over-sized lake amphibians, the silent loneliness of dusk falling and the perceived dangers of anonymous outdoor sex, combine to give the lakeside location a palpable eeriness. That Guiraudie's camera never leaves this setting only intensifies our sense of dread.

So to the characters – Franck, (Pierre Deladonchamps) a chiseled beauty with mournful eyes, befriends out of shape loner Henri, (Patrick d'Assumçao) and develops a gentle, non-sexual relationship with him. Whilst chatting on the lakeside with his newly acquired friend, Franck eyes the object of his desire over on the beach - Michel, (Christophe Paou) who is swarthy, sporty and moustached; an archetypal grade-A hyper-masculine male. However, the course of true sex does not run smoothly. In the afternoon, Franck follows Michel into the forest only to find him with another man. In the evening, a greater obstacle to his emotions occurs when he thinks he witnesses Michel committing a crime.

As voyeurs we share Franck's shock – what in fact did we see occurring ? Dusk is falling – was there a crime or have our eyes tricked us? For Franck, there is a forceful sexual intrigue to what Michel may have done and soon the two embark on a highly sexed affair. Whether a crime was really committed will later become apparent.
Beautifully composed, clever, sexy and suspense-laden, Stranger by the Lake is a gem in the gay canon. The film's much talked about ending is lingering and perverse. In a world dulled by rational behaviour, Stranger by the Lake applauds a man who loses himself to passion and champions the liberation found in animalistic sex and wild emotion.

Dir: Alain Guiraudie, 2013

myDylarama

Lilting (East End Film Festival)

Stranger by the Lake (L'inconnu du Lac)