Skip to main content

Uroky Tolerantnosti (Ukranian) [Lessons Of Tolerance]

By Golu
It is quite obvious that our community really needs lessons in tolerance. The fact that films comes from Ukraine, a country from which I had not expected that I will be writing a review on my blog, an attempt at LGBT comedy (or somewhat in that genre), is big surprise to me. As the name would suggest, the film is literally lessons in tolerance of LGBTQ+ community members told through 10 chapters using a regular Ukrainian family as the center point.

We have a simple family of husband, wife, a son and a daughter. The family is reeling debts, the husband is lazy, daughter is a wanna be actress and the son is just aggressive good for nothing mechanic. The mom has had enough of it. There’s money available for any family that signs up for and completes a state LGBT+ awareness training course, and it’s quite a considerable sum, too. The way it works is that a course representative who is gay will come and live with the family for three weeks, during which time he will conduct a number of LGBT+ awareness sessions. As you expect the family completely refuses but the mother will have none of it and enter Vasyl, the man from the course, turns up at the door, very smart and personable and friendly. Through various sessions over next many days, a lot of sessions happen where the family members get to talk to each pother freely, Of course they all come with their own drama but a few comic sequences as well. Slowly they all start to warm upto him, including the son who is likely the epitome of homophobia. What would be a LGBTQ friendly film where you dont see a kiss, so we see a kiss between Vasyl and the son one night when the son confides that he doesn't understand why he has so much aggression. The film just goes on like this, with the 4 members learning a thing or two about not just tolerance but about each other as family members.

I liked the fact that we get see the perspective of each members, and where do their insecurities come from, and to an extent all of them have a fair point. But if you think this all sounds dull, think once again. There are many genuinely funny laughs here, arising quite believably out of situation and character. Not the over the top loud comedy but genuinely funny moments. Scenes where Vasyl is massaging mother, or teaching massage to father, or when the father fails to understand the gender bias are genuinely funny but also thought provoking. There are a lot of people out there with sexual hang-ups of one sort or another, whether LGBT+ or not, and the film has much to say to all of them. The whole film is set in a tiny apartment with these 5 people and they all have an amazing chemistry with each other. The film is made in such simple language, scenes and structure that any par t of the society can easily understand, without resorting to any complicated deep messages. I am not sure of folks in Ukraine got to see this film, but IMO this film definitely deserves a chance for showing something different. By no means, it addresses any of the topics or you should magically expect the family to completely turn around, but it starts a discussion and the openness of the family members to be willing to have that discussion is a good start. (6/10)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

By Golu
Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...
5 comments
Read more

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

By Golu
Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...
3 comments
Read more

One Summer Night (Korean)

By Golu
I really wanted to like this film but for non native speakers, these movie leaves a lot to be understood and the way scenes were unfolding in front of me, I wasn't sure many times what was really going on. The story had potential button getting any back story on any of the characters limited my ability to empathize with any of these actors. Film starts with two North Korea military guys Yong Joon and Jae Sung having sex and they are caught red handed and they run. Three years later we see Yong Joon in Seoul leading a very mundane and poor life. He has a boyfriend Tae-Kyu, who is a weird guy. He is carefree, doesn't do any work and is completely emotional and financially dependent on Young Joon. In fact, even Yong Joon will go to any lengths to protect him , fend for him and taking care of him to the extent of even taking up prostitution. Suddenly one day Jae Sung appears in their life again. His motivation is not clear but it is obvious he wants Yong Joon back in his life, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more