Quite an old, made for TV film, but the homosexuality undertones in this film are very obvious. Even though nothing is explicitly mentioned or acted upon till the very end, but the way it is presented was probably something very new and original in those days. Its a simple story to be honest, but an even simpler direction made this film worth watching.
Roland, a beautiful, young and charming man has just moved to a new town for university. He yearns for wisdom and is very attracted to the good wise words of wisdom that his literature professor provides. Very soon, the affection is mutual and the duo try to spend more and more time together, with Professor being very cautious to not say or do something that could spoil the relationship. Soon, we find that the professor is married to an ex-student and they have an understanding that the professor likes young boys. Part of me believes that Roland knows professor likes him sexually too but he choses to ignore that. Roland is eager to give all he has to professor and his family and the professor is also intellectually highly affected by the love Roland gives. Roland becomes the writer of the book the professor has always wanted to write. They speak of virtue, honor, love, affection, and integrity but not of flesh. But truth eventually comes out and for both their own individual stakes, they will have to separate. Professor gives one final kiss to Roland, who eventually leaves university to go back to his town.
The story, some may feel, gets repetitive with constant interactions between professor and Roland but in my opinion, it is very realistic. The way professor keeps his ears open to visualize what Roland is doing and anticipating meeting him at various points can be felt. The first time he sees Roland without shirt on and realizes the power of beauty that this young man has who is chasing to spend most of his time with the professor. The end scene where professor wants t o tell him how he feels but Roland keeps refusing wanting to hear. He knows what he will hear but he doesn't wanna hear it. As of just by saying the words, things will fall apart, but believe it or not, that how most of us humans are. We are ok to push things under the carpet but we fear hearing things out loud. The film is not great by any means, but it's a very interesting take on feelings of an older man towards a young man, who reciprocates the love and respect but not in a way the professor wants. We know the separation of the two is evident but the way climax is done was emotional. (5.5/10)
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