Connect with us

Movies

‘I Am Samuel’: A family portrait too real for Kenya?

Country banned LGBTQ-themed documentary

Published

on

(Image courtesy of 'We Are Not The Machine')

If there has been one thing missing in LGBTQ storytelling for a while it has been the framing of LGBTQ people as cogs in greater family mechanisms. The 2020 Kenyan film “I Am Samuel” not only fills this gap but also disrupts how stories of African people of marginalized sexual orientations have been told to the world. When Peter Murimi started chronicling this story over five years ago, he might have imagined that his locale would be primed to receive it as Kenya has a thriving human rights activist scene. This was not the case, and his intimate family portrait was banned from being screened in its proverbial motherland.

When you hear that a film has been banned you immediately think that it contains gratuitous displays of something or the other that go against the fabric of the country or humanity in general. In dictatorial states you might think the film to be excessively progressive. With the film in question, neither one of these things is the case. If anything, Murimiā€™s telling of Samuelā€™s story is in service of nationwide unification. While the principal characters are Sammy and Alex, whom he calls ā€œthe love of my lifeā€ in the first minute of dialogue in the film, the story really is about the strength and value of family ties with Sammyā€™s aging parents.

The Kenya Film Classification Boardā€™s penchant for banning films it expects to sway people towards cultural enlightenment, what it would frame as corruption of morals, is nothing new at this point with regards to LGBTQ-centric films. This very board banned Wanuri Kahiuā€™s internationally acclaimed “Rafiki”, which was released in Cannes in 2018, due to its ā€œhomosexual themes.ā€ The case built around “I Am Samuel”, however, is a different one since it shows Sammyā€™s gayness not as rebellion but as affirming his truthā€”something that his parents grow to not fault him for. In their justification of why Murimiā€™s film violates the Films and Stage Plays Act, the acting CEO Christopher Wambua pointedly stated that “additionally, the film tries to influence the viewer into believing that the older generation that was once against LGBTQ+ is slowly buying into the practice and accepting same-sex marriage as a normal the way of life.”

What is sad, yet not unsurprising, about Wambuaā€™s statement is that it reminds us that homophobia is as inherited as colorism in Africa and across former colonies. Given the chance to see what elders growing into their acceptance of what they had been conditioned to believe is foreign, even if they knew better than to buy into that lie, it would appear that Kenyaā€™s moralistic cultural gatekeepers refuse to engage in the decolonial project one of their own, NgÅ©gÄ© wa Thiong’o, continues to challenge the world toward. What Murimi offers in this family portrait is for Kenyans, Africans and all those conditioned to believe that hating one of their own is intrinsic to self-preservation, to view the protagonistā€™s life from the perspective of the aunt/uncle/cousin/sister/mother/father who is in fact their confidante. Murimi allows viewers to see a family thrown into turmoil by the revelation of someoneā€™s truth, and to watch as each party grows to learn how to coexist with the other in an effort to rebuild the tangible love they once had, which is now just hidden behind shame and misunderstanding.

“I Am Samuel” isnā€™t without expressions romance, sexuality and attraction. When Sammyā€™s father professes that he was happy that heā€™d found his ā€œsweetieā€ and he wants the same thing for his son, you feel both bashful and pitiful. Sammyā€™s parents, being aging subsistence farmers, are the Africans of anthropologic development reports the West feeds its colonialist appetite with, but Murimi gives them a chance at being multidimensionalā€”being people who not only suffer their environment, but also have histories that donā€™t involve the hardships of their present. Similarly, this film does away with many of the hallmarks of “third world LGBTQ documentaries” in that it really is just about Sammyā€™s life and doesnā€™t try to paint a broad-stroke picture of how gay men live in Nairobi or rural Kenya.

The commitment that Sammy and Alex show to each other is also given its space without dramatization. Their personal hardships are mundane. What strikes the viewer, however, is that this documentary is not sanitized from the horrors that state-endorsed homophobia can bring to peopleā€™s lives. A case of mistaken identity resulting in unwarranted scars for one of their friends is a reminder that generalist understandings and portrayals of LGBTQ people are dangerous and can be life threatening.

“I Am Samuel” is a timely offering to the world of LGBTQ storytelling in that itā€™s a story of perseverance, acceptance, teaching, mundanity, destiny, faith and simple humanity. The film is by no means a finished story, Murimi doesnā€™t venture to envelope it in fancy facts or Aristotelian catharsisā€”we are left with where the family that we spend the good part of an hour getting to understand are at the point the screen fades to black. We are left hoping that the family unit is able to re-imagine its future. Where questions of offspring might otherwise be framed through surrogacy or adoption, we understand that these are socio-economic privileges that donā€™t immediately apply in this particular family. We are left hoping that the health of the elders improves and they get to celebrate many more harvests and muse over wedding photos and cake. “I Am Samuel” is the kind of African story that shelves being brave in favor of being seen as human by those closest to you and many families need it. Whether they are in Kenya, Botswana, Russia or the U.S., they need it.

“I Am Samuel” premiered across Africa on Oct. 14 on Afridocs’ website, and the producers invite you to stream it there for free!

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Movies

Sexy small town secrets surface in twisty French ā€˜Misericordiaā€™

A deliciously depraved story with finely orchestrated tension

Published

on

A visitor stirs up secret passions in ā€˜Misericordia.ā€™ (Image courtesy Janus Films)

The name Alain Guiraudie might not be familiar to most Americans, but if you mention ā€œStranger by the Lake,ā€ fans of great cinema (and especially great queer cinema) are sure to recognize it immediately as the title of the French filmmakerā€™s most successful work to date.

The 2013 thriller, which earned a place in that yearā€™s ā€œUn Certain Regardā€ section of the Cannes Film Festival and went on to become an international success, mesmerized audiences with its tense and erotically charged tale of dangerous attraction between two cruisers at a gay beach, one of whom may or may not be a murderer. Taut, mysterious, and transgressively explicit, its Hitchcockian blend of suspense, romance, and provocative psychological exploration made for a dark but irresistibly sexy thrill ride that was a hit with both critics and audiences alike.

In the decade since, heā€™s continued to create masterful films in Europe, becoming a favorite not only at Cannes but other prestigious international festivals. His movies, each in their own way, have continued to elaborate on similar themes about the intertwined impulses of desire, fear, and violence, and his most recent work ā€“ ā€œMisericordia,ā€ which began a national rollout in U.S. theaters last weekend ā€“ is no exception; in fact, it draws all the familiar threads together to create something that feels like an answer to the questions heā€™s been raising throughout his career. To reach it, however, he concocts a story of small town secrets and hidden connections so twisted that it leaves a whole array of other questions in its wake.

It centers on JĆ©rĆ©mie (FĆ©lix Kysyl), an unemployed baker who returns to the woodsy rustic village where he spent his youth for the funeral of his former boss and mentor. Welcomed into the dead manā€™s home by his widow, Martine (Catherine Frot), the visitor decides to extend his stay as he reconnects to his old home town and his memories. His lingering presence, however, triggers jealousy and suspicion from her son ā€“ and his own former school chum ā€“ Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), who fears he has ulterior motives, while his sudden interest in another old acquaintance, Walter (David Ayala), only seems to make matters worse. It doesnā€™t take long before circumstances erupt into a violent confrontation, enmeshing JĆ©rĆ©mie in a convoluted web of danger and deception that somehow seems rooted in the unspoken feelings and hidden relationships of his past.

The hard thing in writing about a movie like ā€œMisericordiaā€ is that thereā€™s really not much one can reveal without spoiling some of its mysteries. To discuss its plot in detail, or even address some of the deeper issues that drive it, is nearly impossible without giving away too much. Thatā€™s because itā€™s a movie that, like ā€œStranger by the Lakeā€ and much of Guiraudieā€™s other work, hinges as much on what we donā€™t know as what we do. Indeed, in its earlier scenes, we are unsure even of the relationships between its characters. We have a sense that JĆ©rĆ©mie is perhaps a returning prodigal son, that Vincent might be his brother, or a former lover, or both, and thatā€™s just stating the most obvious ambiguities. Some of these cloudy details are made clear, while others are not, though several implied probabilities emerge with a little skill at reading between the lines; it hardly matters, really, because as the story proceeds, new shocks and surprises come our way which create new mysteries to replace the others ā€“ and itā€™s all on shaky ground to begin with, because despite his status as the filmā€™s de facto protagonist, we are never really sure what JĆ©rĆ©mieā€™s real intentions are, let alone whether they are good or bad.

Thatā€™s not sloppy writing, though ā€“ itā€™s carefully crafted design. By keeping so much of the movieā€™s ā€œbackstoryā€ shrouded in loaded silence, Guiraudie ā€“ who also wrote the screenplay ā€“ reminds us that we can never truly know what is in someone elseā€™s head (or our own, for that matter), underscoring the inevitable risk that comes with any relationship ā€“ especially when our passions overcome our better judgment. Itā€™s the same grim theme that was at the dark heart of ā€œStranger,ā€ given a (slightly) less macabre treatment, perhaps, but nevertheless there to make us ponder just how far we are willing to place ourselves in danger for the sake of getting what ā€“ or who ā€“ we desire.

As for who desires what in ā€œMisericordia,ā€ thatā€™s often as much of a mystery as everything else in this seemingly sleepy little village. Throughout the film, the sparks that fly between its people often carry mixed signals. Sex and hostility seem locked in an uncertain dance, and itā€™s as hard for the audience to know which will take the lead as it is for the characters ā€“ and if the conflicting tone of the subtext isnā€™t enough to make one wonder just how sexually adventurous (and fluid) these randy villagers really are beneath their polite and provincial exteriors, the unexpected liaisons that occur along the way should leave no doubt.

Yet for all its murky morality and guilty secrets, and despite its ominous motif of evil lurking behind a wholesome small-town surface, Guiraudieā€™s pastoral film noir goes beyond all that to find a surprisingly humane layer rising above it all, for which the townā€™s seemingly omnipresent priest (Jacques Develay) emerges to highlight in the filmā€™s third act ā€“ though to reveal more about that (or about him) would be one of those spoilers we like to avoid.

Thereā€™s a clue to be found, however, in the filmā€™s very title, which in Catholic tradition refers to the merciful compassion of God for the suffering of humanity, but can be literally translated simply as ā€œmercy.ā€ Though it spends much of its time illuminating the sordid details of private human behavior, and though the journey it takes is often quite harrowing, ā€œMisericordiaā€ has an open heart for all of its broken, stunted, and even toxic characters; Guiraudie treats them not as heroes or villains, but as flawed, confused, and entirely relatable human beings. In the end, we may not know all of their dirty secrets, we feel like we know them ā€“ and in knowing them can find a share of that all-forgiving mercy for even the worst of them.

Itā€™s worth mentioning that itā€™s also a movie with a lot of humor, brimming with comically absurd character moments that somehow remind us of our own foibles even as we laugh at theirs. The cast, led by the opaquely sincere Kysyl and the delicately provocative Frot, forge a perfect ensemble to create the playful-yet-gripping tone of ambiguity ā€“ moral, sexual, and otherwise ā€“ thatā€™s essential in making Guiraudieā€™s sly and ultimately wise observations about humanity come across.

And come across they do ā€“ but what makes ā€œMisericordiaā€ truly resonate is that they never overshadow its deliciously depraved story, nor dilute the finely orchestrated tension his film maintains to keep your heart pounding as you take it all in.

To tell the truth, we already want to watch it again.

Continue Reading

Movies

Stellar cast makes for campy fun in ā€˜The Parentingā€™

New horror comedy a clever, saucy piece of entertainment

Published

on

The cast of ā€˜The Parenting.ā€™ā€Ø(Image courtesy of Max/New Line Productions)

If youā€™ve ever headed off for a dream getaway that turned out to be an AirBnB nightmare instead, you might be in the target audience for ā€œThe Parentingā€ ā€“ and if you also happen to be in a queer relationship and have had the experience of ā€œmeeting the parents,ā€ then it was essentially made just for you.

Now streaming on Max, where it premiered on March 13, and helmed by veteran TV (ā€œLooking,ā€ ā€œMinxā€) and film (ā€œThe Skeleton Twins,ā€ ā€œAlex Strangeloveā€) director Craig Johnson from a screenplay by former ā€œSNLā€ writer Kurt Sublette, itā€™s a very gay horror comedy in which a young couple goes through both of those excruciatingly relatable experiences at once. And for those who might be a bit squeamish about the horror elements, we can assure you without spoilers that the emphasis is definitely on the comedy side of this equation.

Set in upstate New York, it centers on a young gay couple ā€“ Josh (Brandon Flynn) and Rohan (Nik Dodani) ā€“ who are happily and obviously in love, and they are proud doggie daddies to prove it. In fact, they are so much in love that Rohan has booked a countryside house specifically to propose marriage, with the pretext of assembling both sets of their parents so that each of them can meet the otherā€™s family for the very first time. They arrive at their rustic rental just in time for an encounter with their quirky-but-amusing host (Parker Posey), whose hints that the house may have a troubling history leave them snickering. 

When their respective families arrive, things go predictably awry. Rohanā€™s adopted parents (Edie Falco, Brian Cox) are successful, sophisticated, and aloof; Joshā€™s folks (Lisa Kudrow, Dean Norris) are down-to-earth, unpretentious, and gregarious; to make things even more awkward, the coupleā€™s BFF gal pal Sara (Vivian Bang) shows up uninvited, worried that Rohanā€™s secret engagement plan will go spectacularly wrong under the unpredictable circumstances. Those hiccups, and worse, begin to fray Josh and Rohanā€™s relationship at the edges, revealing previously unseen sides of each other that make them doubt their fitness as a couple  ā€“ but theyā€™re nothing compared to what happens when they discover that theyā€™re also sharing the house with a 400-year-old paranormal entity, who has big plans of its own for the weekend after being trapped there alone for decades. To survive ā€“ and to save their marriage before it even happens ā€“ they must unite with each other and the rest of their feuding guests to defeat it, before it uses them to escape and wreak its evil will upon the world.

Drawing from a long tradition of ā€œhaunted houseā€ tropes, ā€œThe Parentingā€ takes to heart its heritage in this campiest-of-all horror settings, from the gathering of antagonistic strangers that come together to confront its occult secrets to the macabre absurdity of its humor, much of which is achieved by juxtaposing the arcane with the banal as it filters its supernatural clichĆ©s through the familiar trappings of everyday modern life; secret spells can be found in WiFi passwords instead of ancient scrolls, the noisy disturbances of a poltergeist can be mistaken for unusually loud sex in the next room, and the shocking obscenities spewed from the mouth of a malevolent spectre can seem as mundane as the homophobic chatter of your Boomer uncle at the last family gathering.

At the same time, itā€™s a movie that treats its ā€œhookā€ ā€“ the unpredictable clash of personalities that threatens to mar any first-time meeting with the family or friends of a new partner, so common an experience as to warrant a separate sub-genre of movies in itself ā€“ as something more than just an excuse to bring this particular group of characters together. The interpersonal politics and still-developing dynamics between each of the three couples centered by the plot are arguably more significant to the filmā€™s purpose than the goofy details of its backstory, and it is only by navigating those treacherous waters that either of their objectives (combining families and conquering evil) can be met; even Sara, who represents the chosen family already shared by the movieā€™s two would-be grooms, has her place in the negotiations, underlining the perhaps-already-obvious parallels that can be drawn from a story about bridging our differences and rising above our egos to work together for the good of all.

Of course, most horror movies (including the comedic ones) operate with a similar reliance on subtext, serving to give them at least the suggestion of allegorical intent around some real-world issue or experience ā€“ but one of the key takeaways from ā€œThe Parentingā€ is how much more satisfyingly such narrative formulas can play when the movie in question assembles a cast of Grade-A actors to bring them to life, and this one ā€“ which brings together veteran scene-stealers Falco, Kudrow, Cox, Norris, and resurgent ā€œitā€ girl Posey, adding another kooky characterization to a resume full of them ā€“ plays that as its winning card. Theyā€™re helped by Sublettā€™s just-intelligent-enough script, of course, which benefits from a refusal to take itself too seriously and delivers plenty of juicy opportunities for each of its actors to strut their stuff, including the hilarious Bang; but itā€™s their high-octane skills that bring it to life with just the right mix of farcical caricature and redeeming humanity. Heading the pack as the movieā€™s main couple, the exceptional talent and chemistry of Dodani and Flynn help them hold their own among the seasoned ensemble, and make it easy for us to be invested enough in their couplehood to root for them all the way through.

As for the horror, though Johnsonā€™s movie plays mostly for laughs, it does give its otherworldly baddie a certain degree of dignity, even though his menace is mostly cartoonish. Indeed, at times the film is almost reminiscent of an edgier version of ā€œScooby-Dooā€, which is part of its goofy charm, but its scarier moments have enough bite to leave reasonable doubt about the possibility of a happy ending. Even so, ā€œThe Parentingā€ likes its shocks to be ridiculous ā€“ itā€™s closer to ā€œBeetlejuiceā€ than to ā€œThe Shiningā€ in tone ā€“ and anyone looking for a truly terrifying horror film wonā€™t find it here.

What they will find is a brisk, clever, saucy, and yes, campy piece of entertainment that will keep you smiling almost all the way through its hour-and-a-half runtime, with the much-appreciated bonus of an endearing queer romance ā€“ and a refreshingly atypical one, at that ā€“ at its heart. And if watching it in our current political climate evokes yet another allegory in the mix, about the resurgence of an ancient hate during a gay coupleā€™s bid for acceptance from their families, well maybe thatā€™s where the horror comes in.

Continue Reading

Movies

Indie filmmaking is the gift that keeps giving this season

Jacob Elordi delivers strong performance in ā€˜On Swift Horsesā€™

Published

on

Jacob Elordi and Diego Calva star in ā€˜On Swift Horses.ā€™ (Image courtesy of Sony Classic Pictures)

With all the anti-LGBTQ bias currently being forced down Americaā€™s throat by its own government, you might think that the coming season would be bringing us slim pickings when it comes to movies by, for, and/or about our community. 

As the list of highlights weā€™ve compiled for you below clearly shows, you would be wrong. While there are few big studio offerings among them (are there ever?), we are happy to say that the blessing of indie filmmaking is a gift that keeps shining through, with several titles from outside the dominant mainstream system to pique your interest until the summer blockbusters come rolling out.

Young Hearts (March 14, limited release) A Belgian-Dutch co-production that racked up an impressive number of awards and prizes on the festival circuit, this queer coming-of-age story centers on a rural 14-year old (Lou Goossens) who befriends a new neighbor boy (Marius De Saeger) from the big city and finds himself falling in love for the first time. Described by its director (Anthony Schattemen, in his feature filmmaking debut) as a movie he ā€œneeded or wanted to see” in his own youth, itā€™s a queer-centered romance with universal appeal for viewers of all ages, who will easily recognize the strong emotions it evokes as it explores the struggle of of growing up while trying to discover your own identity. Goossensā€™ performance has been widely praised, as has Schattemanā€™s direction, and its suitability for family viewing makes it an even more appealing choice in a time when young queer people might be feeling particularly in need of positive messaging.

Pet Shop Days (March 14, limited release) Another European festival contender, this UK romantic thriller directed by Olmo Schnabel centers on an impulsive young immigrant (DarĆ­o Yazbek Bernal) who flees his wealthy Mexican family and lands in New York, where he becomes involved with a young pet shop clerk (Jack Irv) and is drawn into an underworld of crime and unrestrained vice. A sexy romance bolstered by the presence of several acclaimed screen veterans ā€“ including Willem Dafoe, Peter Saarsgard, and Emmanuelle Seigner ā€“ and with the prestige of a Venice Film Festival premiere behind it, it has a built-in appeal for queer cinema buffs.

A Nice Indian Boy (April 4) From Independent Spirit Award-winning director Roshan Sethi comes another touch of queer romance, though its premise ā€“ an Indian-American doctor (Koran Soni) falls in love with a white art photographer (Jonathan Groff) and takes him home to win the approval of his deeply traditional immigrant family ā€“ is arguably just as stressful as a crime drama set in the underbelly of NYC. Even so, it comes with a collection of enthusiastic reviews from its festival run, and offers a refreshing twist on the ā€œculture clashā€ rom-coms that typically deliver the reverse ethnic dynamic when it comes to the challenge of bringing someone from outside the community to ā€œmeet the parents.ā€ It also offers the charms of both Tony-winner Groff and Soni (ā€œAbbott Elementaryā€), whose chemistry only enhances their ā€œcute coupleā€ appeal. Sunita Mani, Harish Patel, and Zarna Garg also star.

The Wedding Banquet (April 18) One of the highest-profile queer big screen prospects of the season is yet another rom-com, but this one is also a remake. Out gay Korean-American filmmaker Andrew Ahn (ā€œSpa Night,ā€ ā€œFire Islandā€) helms a reinvention of Ang Leeā€™s now-classic ā€œmarriage-of-convenienceā€ comedy of the same name in which two same-sex couples (Bowen Yang and Han Gi-Chan, Lily Gladstone and Kelly Marie Tran) concoct a ā€œlavender weddingā€ for a green card in exchange for in vitro fertilization, only to find themselves trapped into an elaborate, traditional Korean marriage ceremony by the closeted-at-home groomā€™s revered grandmother (Oscar-winner Youn Yuh-jung). Well received at its Sundance premiere earlier this year, and also featuring acclaimed veteran actress Joan Chen (ā€œLust, Caution,ā€ ā€œTwin Peaks,ā€ ā€œDidiā€) as the mother of the bride, this one has serious potential to become the must-see rom-com – queer or otherwise ā€“ of the season.

On Swift Horses (April 25) A literary adaptation – from the eponymous novel by Shannon Pufahl – set in post-Korean War California, this romantic drama revolves around a returning veteran (Will Poulter) eager to start a brand new life with his bride (Daisy Edgar-Jones); when his younger brother (Jacob Elordi) joins them, the trio form a family together – but both bride and brother have secret desires that remain unmet, leading each to explore their individual romantic and sexual impulses and threatening to pull the happy household apart. Highly touted after its 2024 Toronto Film Festival premiere, this one reportedly boasts ā€œitā€ boy Elordiā€™s strongest performance to date (along with some steamy scenes shared with Diego Calva as his clandestine lover) and gives equal time to the ladies by pairing Edgar-Jones with Sasha Calle as her own secret same-sex flame. Along with ā€œThe Wedding Banquet,ā€ this is probably the most-anticipated queer movie of the year so far. Directed by Daniel Minahan.

Lilies Not for Me (TBA) Though its release date hasnā€™t been set yet, this multinational production from first-time director Will Seefried is worth watching out for. Another period piece, this one follows an aspiring novelist (Fionn Oā€™Shea) in 1920s England who enters a medical facility to undergo ā€œconversion therapyā€ for his homosexuality. It might sound like a horror film, but itā€™s really a drama that unwinds the complex psychological process of coming to terms with your sexual identity, and the connections between past, present, and future which trace the path toward acceptance. Also starring Erin Kellyman, Robert Aramayo, Louis Hoffman, and Jodi Balfour.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Sign Up for Weekly E-Blast

Follow Us @washblade

Advertisement

Popular