Dir. Andrew Haigh, UK , 2011, 97 mins
Cast: Tom Cullen, Chris New
Review by Carol Allen
This film tells the simple but effective story of two gay men, who meet and spend the weekend together. As they tentatively stumble their way through a new relationship like any new couple, gay or otherwise, writer/director Andrew Haigh takes great pains to present his two main characters as fully rounded human beings.
Russell (Cullen) lives alone and his best friend is a straight guy Jamie, whom he met when they were both in care as children and is now married with a child, to whom Russell is the godfather. After spending the evening with these friends, Russell visits a gay bar, where he meets Glen (New). They spend the night together at Russell’s place and from that first encounter cautiously start to build a relationship. Russell is quite obviously looking for someone to love. Glen is a bit elusive, enjoying sex but avoiding too much intimacy.
Both the characters are very likeable in their different ways. Russell is the one we get to know best and through him, we struggle to understand the more opaque Glen. He is an art student who gets Russell to describe their first meeting and night together into a tape recorder for an art project – or so he says – and who amusingly describes telling parents, when he came out as gay, “Nature or nurture, it’s your fault, so get over it”. The meat of the story is the ebb and flow of their relationship, much of which is in the form of conversation, as they exchange confidences, opinions and secrets in the process of getting to know each other. In that respect it’s often more like a play than a film.
Despite the subject matter, the sex scenes are delicately handled and not over explicit, in contrast say to television’s Queer as Folk – the emphasis is more on the characters feelings rather than what they do with their bodies – though all the characters, apart from Jamie’s small daughter, do seem to have a disturbingly heavy drink and drugs habit.
The film is very nicely shot in a clear and crisp manner. Glen’s enigmatic nature for example is established in the opening scenes, when it seems ages before we get a clear look at him. There’s also an interestingly spontaneous, improvised feeling about the dialogue, particularly in the group scenes, like the supper party at the beginning and the scenes in bars and clubs. It is though a bit of a one note chamber piece, melancholy and without a lot of dramatic development. Unlike however what Glen says about an exhibition he is planning: “Straights won’t come because it’s about gays: nothing to do with them”, this isn’t just a film for gay men but also has something to say to all of us in the straight world, in which guys like Russell and Glen live.
Extras:
Cast and Crew Interview
Quinnford + Scout picture gallery with commentary
Weekend UK Premier at LFF
Interview with Director and Casts
Interview with Director and Producer
English subtitles for the Hard of Hearing
xx - posted on 23/05/2012 13:13:28
