Monday, May 22, 2023

 

Frameline47

Forty-seven is the number of the years Frameline, the world's oldest and largest LGBTQ+ film festival, has been running so far. It's also the number of screenings this year the festival is going to hold at the iconic Castro Theater. This year's festival takes place Wednesday, June 14 – Saturday, June 24, 2023, in theaters in San Francisco and Oakland, with a streaming encore available to the U.S. audience to follow from June 24 – July 2, 2023.

The 47th edition of the festival showcases the emerging queer cinema around the world, as well as exhibits a few retrospective films that reflect the history of both queer cinema and community. This year, the festival holds more than 90 screenings, including 12 World, 16 North American, and 9 U.S. premieres.

Frameline 47

The following are a few samplers in this year's selection. (You may click on each still image or poster for the corresponding screening or event's show time and ticket information.)


  • About Us But Not About Us (Philippines 2022 | in Tagalog/English | 91 min.)

    About Us But Not About Us
    The writer-director Jun Robles Lana is one of the most prolific and talented filmmakers from the Philippines. His latest drama "About Us But Not About Us" is an engrossing gem that you absolutely should not miss at this year's festival. Even though the film is set entirely at a dining table over the conversation between two individuals, the twists and turns never stop from the beginning to the end, with high drama and raw emotions.

    When 40-year-old Eric (Romnick Sarmenta) and 20-year-old Lance (Elijah Canlas) sit down at a restaurant table, we are immediately intrigued about their relationship. Their conversation quickly reveals that Eric is an English department professor, who is mourning the death of Marcus, his boyfriend of 17 years. Lance is Eric's student who gets Eric's help and attention. We also learned that the late Marcus is also a literature giant that both Eric and Lance admire.

    Over the meal, they discuss the dynamics of their relationship, explore the motives of their actions, discover the secrets of their lives, and reposition their moral compasses through the course. Blended with Tagalog and English, their fascinating and intelligent conversation often sparks exploding emotion in a very quiet setting. Hardly leaving their seats, they ride the wave of the drama, like on a rafting trip in the Colorado River.

    For a film heavily relying on its dialogues, its remarkable achievement is credited to Jun Robles Lana's sharp script. The convincing and subtle performance from the two lead actors, Romnick Sarmenta Elijah Canlas, terrifically brings Lana's words to life.

    After this meal, you will definitely feel hungry again and eager to find out what Jun Robles Lana will offer you next. But more pressingly, you might wonder what the two mesmerizing characters, Eric and Lance, will do next.

    By the way, the Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo, who is famously making at least one film per year featuring people talking about their relationships, could learn a thing or two from Jun Robles Lana on how a conversation-over-a-meal film should be done—with a compelling story and interesting characters.


  • Old Narcissus (老ナルキソス | Japan 2023 | in Japanese | 110 min.)

    Old Narcissus
    There are very few movies about older gay men who fall for young men, and it's even rarer if an elderly has an S&M fetish. The Japanese writer-director Tsuyoshi Shôji's drama "Old Narcissus" candidly tells a story about such an old man, a 74-year-old author of Children's illustration book. The film is an extended version of his 2017 short film with the same title. It creates a character that is seldom portrayed in cinema.

    The aging author is narcissistic Yamazaki (Tajiro Tamura), who is lonely and having a writer's block to deliver another children's book despite the nagging from his editor. He hires 25-year-old escort Leo (Atomu Mizuishi) to satisfy his S&M fetish desire.

    "Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection and drowned." That line in the film describes the stage of mind of Yamazaki who still lives in his past and longs for his lost youth and beauty. He hopes that he can be together with Leo and relive his past through Leo's youthfulness. But Leo is having trouble committing to a same-sex partnership with his own boyfriend. As the interaction between the two progresses, they both come to terms about where they are and what they want.

    The writer-director Tsuyoshi Shôji boldly created an aging eccentric character that we have never seen before. Yet, the audience can resonate with so many traits of this colorful character. Much credit needs to be given to Tajiro Tamura, who is remarkable in playing this complicated role without a slight sign of self-consciousness.

    While the film doesn't offer any resolution to a universal problem, it does shine a spotlight on a corner that has been dark for too long.


  • Egoist

    Egoist
    Following the formula of a typical sentimental Korean drama, the Japanese director Daishi Matsunaga's eye-candy drama "Egoist" tries hard to make your heart ache and your eyes wet. However, the unconvincing plot cuts the effectiveness of that effort.

    That egoist in the film's title is the well-off fashion photo editor Kôsuke (Ryohei Suzuki) who has a full closet of designer's clothes in a fancy apartment with a view. Over dinner with a group of his gay friends, he is introduced to a young personal fitness trainer Ryûta (Hio Miyazawa), a sunny boy with a bright smile that can melt you on the spot.

    Even though Kôsuke is full of himself, he quickly falls in love with Ryûta, and he is willing to do anything for Ryûta, including providing financial support for him and his mom. They become a lovely couple that can easily appear on your wall calendar. You begin to believe that money can indeed buy anything, including love. They look so good together and it makes you wish you had met your Ryûta.

    But the filmmaker has no intention to make a sweet romantic gay movie, and you fear something bad might happen to the couple. Sure enough, the plot readily goes down that cliché path and turns the story into a soppy soap opera.

    The film could have dug deeper into the character of Ryûta, instead, it only uses him as a disposable pretty prop, as if it can be taken off from a store shelf, as long as you have the money to pay for it.


Frameline47 takes place June 14 – 24, 2023 in San Francisco and Oakland. The festival will also include a nationwide streaming encore June 24 – July 2, 2023.


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