Bent (1997)

From party animal to deep commitment

This film is catching. It provides an insight from a German guy, living changes in the "gay" lifestyle at the begining of the Nazi Period. Although not being a documentary, it is a "could be" movie. At the begining of the film we are in a wild club with fancy and trendy people flirts, watch "modern" performances and enjoy and industrial envoiromen. It reproduces the mood of early 30's Berlin, were "gay life" was active in clubs like EL DORADO, bistros and even gay and lesbian magazines like Die Freundschaft. Life is a party for Max, the main character. However, Nazi politics, which includes homosexuals witch-hunt, is the end of that golden era. It is not mentioned in the film, but although that active gay life, there were a law against homosexuality (Paragraph 173). That is a reminder for us now, it is not only important to have social tolerance or acceptance, but to be sure laws are changed for not raising among the dead and haunt us in the most unexpected moment. Max meeting a self-confident guy at a concentration camp will make him understand the differences between sex and love. Although being a similar theme to A LOVE TO HIDE, the French film is more oriented on external situations of being gay in France, focusing on police activity, concentration camps abuses and even mentioning castration, hormones experiments and cerebral interventions with homosexuals. BENT is more introspective about being gay in a hostile envoiroment, as well as personal evolution from egocentrism to commitment. A touching film to see and talk about with friends. June 9, 2008

Bent

Excellent product. Received it in two days. I am very happy with Amazon. Easy to do business with. I will keep coming back. May 29, 2008

No, don't stop!...Aw, shucks...

Bent is a mysterious production. I don't understand how it ended up going to where it goes. The movie opens with vivacious scenes with many extras, but then, loses people as it moves along. Is there some peculiar reason for this? If you're thinking this is going to take you into scenes like in "Schindler's List" or "Sophie's Choice," to get a sense of a Nazi death camp, well, don't expect that. The camp in this film is practically deserted. What happened? Did they run out of money to hire extras? No mud, no smoking crematoriums, no guard towers, no huddling masses. Mostly, just the two main characters and a couple of Nazis in some dusty rock quarry. There are some wide shots of the locale, but no one else is around. Where is everyone?

I guess what happened was it became more and more like the play where a simple stage is presented while much of the scenario is only alluded to in the dialogue. But this isn't a play, it's a movie. The different medium, you would hope, should demand a different type of production, but this movie, while it starts out like a movie, ends like a play, and very disappointingly so. Maybe if there had been a more surreal approach to this film, the desolate landscape might have worked. I'm thinking, maybe something like the approach Julie Taymor used when she presented Shakespeare's play "Titus Andronicus" in her surreal film "Titus," where symbolism and deviation from expected reality are consistent beginning to end. Bent is not consistent that way. It takes us from a somewhat real world of Berlin to a minimalist surreal world of Dachau.

What's really disappointing is, just at the moment the movie becomes most interesting, it ends. I want to see how this character continues after his transformation. Instead, the story just leaps--dare I say?--to a cheap melodramatic ending. Wow, the setup was so great at that moment, and then it's like an axe just comes flying down and ends it. This was the moment where the real story begins. This is the new story where the scriptwriter would have been most challenged. How will this character survive now? Instead, the scriptwriter just writes in an ending, signs his x, and leaves. Now's not the time to drop the ball, I was thinking. This ending is not the signature of a great writer. Creative writing 101: follow the interesting, not the obvious, especially if it leads to a fearful place. Go to the dangerous situation. That's where your audience wants you to take them. Don't take an easy way out instead.

The acting is good, not great. Bluteau's performance is the best. Clive Owen is convincing. Ian McKellen's part is very small. Sorry, Mick, you're one of the best white rock'n'rollers of all time, but what makes you great as a rock-n-roller is what undermines you as an actor. Mick's acting is mostly stilted. His part is small too.

What's great about this film is it really gives you a sense, almost on the abstract level, of the dangers of the far right. On the other hand, the whole Nazi situation is, at the same time, simply a backdrop for a character's journey of personal reflection and transformation. I just wish that character had been explored more. This story really blew me away...because of what it didn't do. May 17, 2008

Ground breaking

Or is that rock breaking!!! You'll see what I mean if you waste your time with this one. 90 minutes of two guys in their pyjamas carrying rocks back and forth from one pile to another. The symbolism wasn't lost on me, I recognised it for what it was, rubbish. It was a relief when the lead characted met his fate. March 27, 2008

Great Film....

I bought the film Bent very recently because I like very much Clive Owen. This is a great film. A good example on how our mind is free and superior to any barrier or boundary. A love between two persons is always beautiful...
It's also a very sad film because shows a piece of our history that we can't forget in order to avoid the same mistakes. I recommend it...
February 28, 2008

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