Marco Berger has come out with another movie that’s really beautiful and sexy, but it’s definitely not like the ones he usually makes where guys are just full of sexual tension. This one is filmed in black-and-white and looks amazing. The director found a really weird way to show how humans connect and how sexuality works by using a "man as a dog" idea. It’s a pretty strange but interesting movie that makes you think. The story takes place in a world that’s parallel to ours, where two straight couples are on vacation on an island. You see two guys on a boat calling out to someone, and then this naked, lonely, and really good-looking guy shows up. In this dreamy kind of world, the group calls him a "man," but he basically acts like a pet dog. In this setup, the word "men" refers to naked male humans that people own as pets, just like we own dogs. People are scared of stray men just like they're scared of stray dogs. There are also "women" who ...
Its been a while since I saw a decent gay film. It wasn't great by any shakes but it struck a chord with me (if we forget the annoying Rhonda in the film). It made me want to have a family with my boyfriend. When a passing bank-teller Rhonda sees Travis, a heartbroken guy ready to jump off the Brooklyn bridge, she gets obsessed with him thinking she realizes the pain he is going through because she herself is suffering because of her parents and starts stalking him. It includes following him to his house uninvited, raking through his belongings and eventually following him all the way to Texas. Travis on the other hand, we realize is just getting over the fact that his boyfriend of 10 years has just died of Aids. He receives a tape from Bobby wanting him to travel to Texas to see where Bobby grew up, things that he did and fulfill his wishes. Rhonda stalks him thinking he is cute and wanting him but soon realizes that he is gay and is here to fulfill Bobby's wishes. They have their arguments and fights but Rhonda wants to help her and so does Travis because he knows he cannot do it alone. I a series of tapes Bobby wants Travis to do certain things which includes visiting his Aunt and telling all the truth about him and Travis to her in person. It wont be easy but he wants no more secrets. Finally he reaches Bobby's grave, buries certain things there that he wanted Travis to. Rhonda helps him in all this and in the process realizes what she is doing wrong in life and how she needs to move out of her parents and start her own life.
The film touched me particularly because it so very deeply touched upon the fact what a person goes through when you life partner dies, in this case of gays. The days when the film was made, the gay partners were not allowed in funerals and barred from any ceremonies and clearly not given any legal recognition of widow or something. Travis played his role very convincingly. But Rhonda, tell me tell you was annoying to the core. I would shoot her is she would stalk me.
Enjoy the film and feel the pleasure of being in love. (6.5/10)
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