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Michalis Maniatis,
Michalis Maniatis,
Maria Alkeou,
more...
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George Katakouzinos,
George Katakouzinos
see all cast/crew...
: Water Bearer Films
: Drama, Gay & Lesbian, Features
: 126 min.
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In a year when the Cannes Film Festival honored the histrionic shrieking of Isabelle Adjani in Possession with a Best Actress Award, it should come as no surprise that this similarly melodramatic Greek film from Yiorgos Katakouzinos was one of the most discussed entries in the Directors' Fortnight. It stars Michalis Maniatis as Angelos, a young gay man with a drunken father, a crazy mother, and a crippled sister. Angelos falls in love with a dodgy sociopathic Marine named Michalis (Dionyssis Xanthos), who turns him into a transvestite hooker. When Angelos gets arrested and kicked out of the army, his father commits suicide and Michalis starts beating and raping the grieving Angelos. Finally, it's all too much for Angelos to take and he bloodily stabs Michalis to death in his sleep. Not what one would describe as "subtle," the film still benefits from a memorable performance by Maniatis, who hits every discordant note that Katakouzinos' script demands of him with admirable depth and realism. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
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| Fag Bashing or Misconstrued Sympathy...?
by Frodo
October 25, 2002 - 8:31 AM PDT
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5 out of 6 members found this review helpful
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| This so called, ?Award Winner? puts one in a real quandary. Is it a total waste of time, or a misdirected attempt to study and sympathize with the gay and transvestite subcultures? I'd read a totally negative review on IMDB, but felt I needed to make my own judgment. I know this film was made 20 years ago, and supposedly times have changed (?) but... There seem to be attempts to be sympathetic; the older man who obviously cares for Angelo and warns him of the dangers in his new relationship; Angelo?s devotion and love for his handicapped sister; and perhaps the best scene in the movie; Angelo?s tryst with the first timer, married man. Cultural differences aside, the dated transvestite portrayals are hardly sympathetic, nor are some of the other actions in the film. I find Angelo?s easy acceptance of the transvestite street life a little hard to believe and accept. Not enough is revealed about Angelo, he is portrayed as mild, placid, sensitive, but still kind of a question mark. These characteristics make him a woman? I find it offensive that there seems to be the reasoning that fag = transvestite. Angelo?s grandmother and mother were both whores in their younger days. Are we supposed to accept this as a rational for what happens to him? Angelo deposited as refuse at the garbage dump was hardly subtle. The films resolution is one step shy of the traditional: FAG KILLS SELF OUT OF GUILT, REMORSE, SHAME, etc? |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 5.59)
17 Votes
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| What a Drag! |
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| Movies with a significant amount of drag. This list mostly concerns drag as performance, comedy or shock value, not transvestism and transexuals. |
Chyekk
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WilliamHollden
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