(GayWebSource.com – Gay Media & Press Network) – Posted by Jake Simpson – TheGayUK.com
Does anyone at TLA actually watch movies before issuing them? Of the four DVDs recently passed to me for review, two of them are hardly worthy of release. I hate to pour cold water on the work of young filmmakers trying to make their way in a crowded market, but to be honest; I’ve seen better student films.
by Greg Mitchell | 21st June 2013
The Visitor
★
“Cibrail”, given the English title “The Visitor” hails from Germany and is a familiar tale of a straight boy finally finding out he is gay. Cibrail, a young policeman is happily living with his girlfriend when her gay cousin comes to stay. Cibrail is Turkish, though that actually has little or no impact on the plot, such as it is. There is very little dialogue, but loads of silent soul searching with characters lying on the grass staring into the sky, or plunging into pools of cold water. It’s all rather tedious really and, though the lovers are attractive and engaging enough, I soon lost patience with it.
Dream On
★
“Dream On”, on the other hand, has almost too much dialogue, most of it stagily delivered, and betraying its origins in a play. Set in the 1980s, it is a tale of two teenage boys coming to terms with their sexuality and falling in love, but has not one whiff of the charm of, say “Beautiful Thing”, also coincidentally originally a stage play. The main character, Paul, is initially so gormless, one wonders why the slightly more worldly-wise George even bothers with him. He remains completely without charm throughout the film, though we are expected to believe that he has achieved some sort of transfiguration in the final scenes. I remained unconvinced. Well-meaning but way too earnest for its own good, “Dream On” is the directorial debut of Lloyd Eyre-Morgan.
Mixed Kebab
★★★
Much better is Guy Lee Thys’s movie “Mixed Kebab”, which details the love affair between a closeted Turkish Muslim boy, living with his ex-pat family in Antwerp and a completely out Belgian boy.
The film is quite successful at showing the tensions that might exist when a once traditional Turkish family tries coming to terms with a more liberated culture in the West, and the differing attitudes of young and old. As the older of two brothers, Bram is the favourite, resented by his younger brother. Whilst the freedom accorded to Bram leads him to follow a more Western life style, finding love with the Kevin, an out gay Belgian boy, his younger, delinquent brother, turns to strict Islam, with tragic results.
It is no surprise to find that the most balanced and open relationship is that between the Belgian boy, Kevin, and his mother. He is completely out to her, and she is completely accepts his sexuality. They enjoy a very happy and contented life, until it is shattered by the prejudices that exist in Bram’s world. Where Kevin’s life is simple, Bram’s is anything but. Bram’s father sends him to Turkey to meet the young woman, who has been selected to be his wife, but this young woman is also living something of a dual life. She appears to be a dutiful daughter to her father, but in fact has been having a flirtation with a young waiter from the town, and sees Bram as her means of escape from her traditional Turkish background. Back in Belgium, Bram’s father has turned a blind eye to his favourite son’s drug dealing, but cannot accept his homosexuality. However he also has a problem with his younger son’s increasing radicalisation.
What we see is that when people are allowed to be who they are, free from the fetters of religion and traditions, life becomes infinitely more simple. “Mixed Kebab” is not a perfect movie by any means, the pacing is not always assured and it’s sometimes hard to escape a feeling that the issues raised are not fully explored,but it does ask important questions and is at least watchable, with nice performances from the two lovers, Cem Akkanat and Simon Van Buyten.
Men to Kiss
★★★
Finally we come to “Men to Kiss”, a madcap comedy set in Berlin, and directed by Robert Hasfogel, which concerns the chaotic, but happy, relationship of conservative banker Ernst (the appealingly sexy Frank Christian Marx), and crazily unconventional Tobias (Udo Lutz), and the attempts of Ernst’s eccentric school friend, Uta (Alexandra Stranitzky), to split them up. Though engaging and watchable, Hasfogel doesn’t seem quite sure where to pitch the comedy. Early on there is a scene, in which Ernst and a group of Tobias’s friends get very stoned. Discovered by the husband of Steffi, the instigator of this little party, he proceeds to lecture them all on the dangers of taking drugs, but, as they are all still stoned, his admonishments obviously fall on deaf ears. It is brilliantly managed and sublimely funny. Later on however, the comedy almost becomes too surreal, at least for this reviewer. Still it was good to watch something a little more light hearted that celebrates gay life and relationships, rather than concentrating on the negatives. I found it diverting and delightful.
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