Title: Love and Death on |
Release Date: 1997 |
Nationality and Language: |
Running time: 95 min |
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Distributor and Production Company: Lions Gate |
Director; Writer: Richard Kwietniowski |
Producer: |
Cast: John Hurt, Jason Priestly |
Technical: |
Relevance to DOASKDOTELL site: “Oscar Wilde” syndrome, writing |
Review: Movie Review: Love and Death on Long Island: Lions Gate, 1997, 95 Minutes; Rated "R" So here is it, the classic fable: a closeted, aging gay man develops a mad crush on a young, virile straight man, even to the point of having to compete with legitimate girl friends. The gay man is a genre novelist and "professional" British author (played by John Hurt), past his prime, and very clumsy in taking care of things. His incompetence with modern gadgets or technology suggests an almost contemptible (and not just laughable) lack of common sense. And he likes to quibble. "I don't process words, I write." "You said, thank you for not smoking. Well, I'll smoke and you don’t need to thank me." One day, desperately needing to amuse himself, he
goes to a porno movie, and just falls in love with the star (Jason Priestly)
of "Hot Pants 2." He decides to go to The final scene in the diner (reminiscent of a movie by that name) is
either heart-rending or pathetic, from one's point of view. He
"offers" the porn star a career in There is nothing left for the old writer to do but to die. Recently, an acquaintance gave me another interpretation of this film. The protagonist is not really "gay," just fascinated with youthful virility the way straight men are. Indeed, the protagonist, in the mind of this commentator, hadn't really "lived" any kind of earthy life. I disagree. Older straight men, once married, usually lose their fascination with the male qualities of other men. There have been other films about authorship as a profession. In 2003,
Francois Ozon’s Swimming
Pool (Focus/Seville Pictures) featured Charlotte Rampling as a British mystery novelist who lives in a
house in
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Related reviews: Latter Days, etc. Mysterious Skin, etc. |
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