THEGAYUK

Tag: Movie Genre Drama

All movie reviews for films in the Drama genre

  • FILM REVIEW | Keep The Lights On

    ★★★★ | Keep The Lights On

    Keep the Lights On is a powerfully charged plot following two men from New York City, Erik (Thure Lindhardt) and Paul (Zachary Booth), through an emotional wave of events.

    Their initial casual sex encounter forms a beautiful relationship which is explosive, climatic and heart-warming, creating a dichotomy of emotive highs and agonising lows. These fundamental parallels are significant, questioning how one can think they know someone, but at the same time know so little about their drive and purpose. But what are the implications of having casual sex with a stranger?

    The movie is set across a period of time, as the storyline gradually increases in momentum. The main couple are easy to relate to, joyfully expressing those heart warming feelings of being in the early stages of a relationship – the closeness, the ecstasy, the contentment. But along with the greatness of any relationship comes the sadness. The film explores the difficulties and strains of alcohol and drug abuse, but how much can a partner support and guide before they can take no more?

    The film work is a mature and honest investigation into a couples intimate bond. It doesn’t try to make a point of this being a gay relationship, which is usually my biggest criticism. It is simply a love story full of anguish and confusion like any other. With poignant shots throughout the movie and set to a stunning soundtrack, it has to be placed right at the top of the must see movie category.

  • FILM REVIEW | R/Evolve

    ★★ | R/Evolve

    Lucas and Lincoln tackle the pains and joys of proposed marriage, of which gay marriage is the defining cultural indifference of the age.

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  • FILM REVIEW | Transylvania

    ★★★★★ Transylvania

    What do you do when the person you want so badly doesn’t want you, even when you’re pregnant and have travelled across Europe to find him? That’s the basic premise of this film – what happens afterwards…

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  • FILM REVIEW | Sexual Tension: Volatile

    TLA issue a DVD containing six short films about men who do not always get what they want, SEXUAL TENSION: VOLATILE brings together two award-winning filmmakers (Marco Berger and Marcelo Mónaco) for the first volume in a series of erotic short films.

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  • FILM REVIEW | Keep The Lights On

    ★★★★★ | Keep The Lights On

    This award winning and Sundance Festival selected film is an intricate look at the lives of two men who enter into a relationship in 90s New York. Directed by Ira Sachs.

    Erik is a Danish documentary film maker who meets Paul via a telephone-sex chat-line. Erik is anxious about commitment and lawyer Paul has a steady girlfriend. What starts off as a casual sexual relationship develops into something more meaningful and romantic. The film charts the two lovers over the course of their turbulent ten year relationship.

    The two main characters lives take on unexpected turns and as Erik becomes more responsible and committed, Paul’s more orderly life spirals out of control as his recreational drug abuse becomes a destructive habit. The relationship enters a series of cycles of damage and renewal as the film charts their lives.

    The film is beautiful to watch but also painful viewing in places, but ultimately provides a meaningful glimpse into the areas of both lightness and shade which relationships can pass through. The balance of the film is such that the story never felt too bleak but is balanced with erotic tension, a compelling storyline and occasional bursts of humour. Strong performances from the cast add to the emotional intensity of the film.

    Highly recommended for a moving and fascinating insight into the life cycle of a relationship.

    Released on DVD and Blu-ray in the U.K. on 28/01/13 available from Amazon

  • FILM REVIEW | Les Miserables

    ★ | Les Misérables, a story of crime, broken dreams and valiance. Set in the French Revolution it explores a story of Jean- Valjean, a so called criminal who breaks his parole to start a new life of truth and compassion.

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  • FILM REVIEW | Life Of Pi

    ★★★★★ | Life Of Pi

    An Indian boy (Suraj Sharma), the son of a zoo keeper, with the improbable name of Pi, short for the even more improbable Piscine (I’ll let you find out for yourself how he came by that name) is shipwrecked and finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, with a zebra, a hyena, an orang-utan and a Bengal tiger, called Richard Parker.

    Sounds improbable? Well that’s kind of the point. This is David Magee’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s novel The Life of Pi, which, I should point out, I have never read, so I have no idea if it is a good adaptation or not. What I am quite sure of is that it is one of the best movies Ang Lee (director of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain) has ever given us.

    The first thing to say is that, visually, this is a very beautiful film, and often a stunning one. The 3D effects and CGI are amazing, but the movie is so much more. Often these days, one feels that a movie is all about effects, but in Life of Pi, the effects are used to enhance what is already a compelling narrative. Lee’s use of 3G is almost poetic, immeasurably helped here by Claudio Miranda’s wonderful (in its true sense of full of wonder) cinematography.

    Suraj Sharma gives an incredible performance, growing in stature as the movie progresses and Pi learns more about life and survival, all the more remarkable when you consider that for the most part he had to react to a beast that wasn’t actually there (Richard Parker, the tiger, is mostly depicted through the magic of CGI). His performance is matched by that of Irrfan Khan, who plays the older Pi, telling his story to a Canadian writer (Rafe Spall). Like the writer, we are drawn in by Khan’s magical storytelling, the pain behind his eyes hiding a truth that is never fully explained. Like Pi, Ang Lee knows how to tell a story, how to draw his audience in. He did it in Brokeback Mountain, and, in a completely different way, he does it here. His direction is never less than masterful, more than that, poetic, inspiring.

    At the end of the movie, Pi tells us that when he was finally rescued, the story of how he survived was not believed by the authorities investigating the shipwreck, so he came up with another one, more prosaic, but even more brutal. Is the first story an allegory of the second? We are left to make our own minds up, but I know which one I choose. Definitely one of my movies of the year.

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon | Amazon Prime | iTunes

  • FILM REVIEW: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

    “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” opens nationwide today.

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  • FILM REVIEW | Happy Happy

    Kaja is a school teacher who is an eternal optimist. (more…)

  • FILM REVIEW | Beauty

    Francois is a middle aged white Afrikaner family man who is unable to reconcile his inner desires with the values of his contemporaries.

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  • FILM REVIEW: Undertow

    A movie set within the everyday of a small Peruvian village by the sea, Undertow will draw on the pain of its viewer.

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