Queer Lion 2009
Not in Competition...
Survival of the Dead by George A. Romero (Usa 2009, 90’)
On a small island nearby the coasts of North America, the living dead are threating the humans; but despite the growing danger, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get rid of the “living corpses” of the beloved ones. Among the military forces trying to keep the order, an openly lesbian female soldier.
Valhalla Rising by Nicolas Winding Refn (Denmark 2009, 90’)
One-Eye, mute warrior with a supernatural force, has been kept prisoner for years by Barde, the head of the tribe. Helped by Are, he kills his warder and they both manage to escape, beginning a trip into the heart of darkness. Trying to escape the bounty hunters, One-Eye and Are go on board of a Viking ship sailing towards Norway; as the country reveals its secrets and the Vikings meet their fate, One-Eye discovers his true nature. In a society such as the Viking one, based on manliness and cruelty, there is place for violence and rapes, even homosexual ones.
Sinner by Meni Philip (Israel 2009, 28’)
13 years old Yotar, student in a hortodox jewish school, turns to the rabbi to come to terms with his first sexual impulses; but, instead of receiving the help he was wishing for, he will find himself even more confused and alone.
Celda 211 (Cell 211) by Daniel Monzón (Spain/France 2009, 113’)
Two men, during a jail riot: the merciless murderer heading it, and the newly arrived jailer that will find himself involved in it (being forced to undrgo an humiliating rite of passage, being stripped naked among the prisoners, that will take advantage of that). “Prison movies” often show a male-driven, homophobic society, ruled by violence and abuses, even sexual ones. The movie starts from there to tell stories of loves, power games, secret agreements, inside and outside the prison’s walls.
Good morning Aman by Claudio Noce (Italy 2009, 103’)
Aman, a 20 year old boy born in Somalia and raised in Rome, works as a used cars seller. Driven by insomnia, he wanders at night for the streets of the Italian capital. One night, after sneaking on a terrace, he meets Teodoro, a former boxer with a dark past. Their friendship soon starts to become something much deeper, even morbid, though never fully cleared, despite a fleeting kiss.
La nave delle donne maledette by Raffaello Matarazzo (Italy 1954, 94’)
A group of deported women sails towards American colonies on Spanish ship in the 18th century. Uncensored version of a flaming melodrama, with rather explicit lesbian innuendos.
Morte di un amico by Franco Rossi (Italy 1959, 86’)
Bruno and Aldo are longtime friends. The former lives on the money of a prostitute, as will do the latter very soon. Pier Paolo Pasolini collaborated to the screenplay of this story of good vs. evil, love vs. violence. Very dense of meanings are the scenes in which the two friends find themselves body-to-body, either during a fight or in the moving final sequences.
Nudi per vivere by Elio Montesti (Italy 1964, 90’)
Directed under pseudonym “just to make money”, this is a docu-drama nearer to realism than to exploitation movies, where in the trip around a sinful Paris by night, it’s impossible not to meet and visit homosexual spots and clubs.
Il tramontana by Adriano Barbano (Italy 1965, 80’)
The main character, a rebellious kid, is forced to go into a boarding-school when his parents leave for Switzerland. The school, run by Capuchin friars, has all the typical elements one can imagine: long dormitory rooms, long dark corridors, male-bonding and friendship among the boys… and some friar looking at them in a morbid way.
