Viewing a unique gay relationship in Händl Klaus' strange, passionate love story, TOMCAT

If you want to know just how far and how fulfilling movies about gay characters have come and have become over the past half-century, take a look at the Teddy award-winning film, TOMCAT. I'd call this one a "must" for gay male audiences (and cat-lovers of almost any stripe: the many shots of the cats in this one rival KEDI and just about anything else you may have seen). As spectacularly intimate and encompassing as the movie is, however, there are some caveats I had better mention.

If you object to viewing male genitalia, be warned (there is ample on display here, in one scene even erect and bouncing). However, the manner in which writer/director Händl Klaus handles this full-frontal could not be more real nor more "ordinary." It brings us as close as film has gotten (even, I think, more so than the recent Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo) in terms of showing us the love and passion these two men feel and express in a way that seems so normal and ordinary. In this sense, it is indeed groundbreaking. There is also a moment of sudden, game-changing violence in the film that will prove very disturbing -- as it should be, and as it is for our two protagonists.

Also, as good as the movie is, it's a little too long. Its lack of incident during the latter half is not made up for by any increase in understanding of our two main characters. They don't seem to grow, nor do we comprehend them any more fully. This is too bad because the two lead actors -- Lukas Turtur (above, right) and Philipp Hochmair (above, left) -- are excellently cast. They are attractive but not gorgeous (and consequently more real), and they inhabit their characters about as fully and well as you could expect, given the limitations of Klaus' script.

So shocking, sudden and seemingly unexplainable is the incidence of violence that changes the film that, of course, we want some kind of explanation. Herr Klaus refuses to give it to us, and that is his right -- particularly if his point is that sometimes this sort of thing really is impossible to explain or understand.

Yet his barely giving a nod to psychiatry or the medical establishment runs the risk of making his movie seem less deep than facile. Sure, medical science can't explain everything, but, hey, why not give it a try? If this has happened here, we're not privy enough to it. No CAT scans or MRIs, and we don't even get to sit in on a therapy session.

Still, what exists is certainly potent: The event that breaches the relationship is a stunner, and then the long, difficult road back to forging some kind of healthy, enduring bond is believable enough. There's one scene on the soccer field that is also memorable. The work environment, too, is nicely handled: One of our guys plays in the local orchestra, the other appears to be perhaps the manager of that orchestra.

We meet some of the pair's good friends, mostly orchestra members, too. German society in general, as it so often appears to be in these movies, seems more inclusive, caring and accepting of the gay community than are those of many other countries, including our own. And oh, my god, are the two cats in this film absolute keepers!

From First Run Features and running just under two hours, Tomcat made its DVD debut yesterday, Tuesday, June 13 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Ceyda Torun's delightful doc, KEDI -- Cat lovers: the movie of your life has arrived!

And not only cat lovers: Movie lovers in general might just might want to stick this new documentary on their must-see list. No film I've viewed so far has made me want to visit the country of Turkey (along with its city of Istanbul) more than this one. The reasons are three-fold: those titular cats, of course (I'm told that Kedi means cat in Turkish); the people we meet who care for those cats (thoughtful, humane, and with plenty of smart stuff to tell us); and finally this: Though little is overtly made of religion in the film -- save one sweet anecdote about the Muslim faith, Christianity and burials with crosses -- you come away from Kedi with the notion that Muslim-must-equal-terrorism pushed about as far back in your brain as possible. These days in particular, that is no small achievement.

The film's director, Ceyda Torun (shown at left), grew up in Istanbul till she reached eleven years, with the city's cats her constant companions. TrustMovies did not know this about Istanbul: Hundreds of thousands of cats roam the city freely, just as the species has done for thousands of years, wandering in and out of people's home and lives, and making (or so the movie posits) those lives infinitely richer.

KEDI lets us into the world of some of those cats (quite a diverse bunch, both visually and personality-wise), along with the people who are their semi-caretakers, and whom the cats seems to have adopted -- rather than the other way around. As charming and delightful as these cats are, it is those people -- their thoughts, feelings and ideas -- that make this movie as rich as it is.

One of these folk reminds us that, while dogs may see humans as god, cats understand that we are merely the middlemen in the equation.

Another fellow, who appears to work in a bakery (maybe it's a bakery/restaurant) notes that all the tips taked in here are used to care for the cats. We watch in wonder as yet another man carries around his plastic bag full of food that he offers the felines, while explaining why and how the cats have saved his life.

As "modernity" encroaches and high-rises replace whole neighborhoods, the cats' habitat diminishes. Torun and her cast/cats and crew gives us some wonderful aerial views of the city (the cinematography is by Alp Korfali and Charlie Wupperman), as well as an up-close-and-personal look into homes and offices and various cat quarters around the town.

No mention is made of "animal control." Perhaps there simply is none. We hear reference only once to an animal being "fixed," If the cat population continues to grow, even as its habitat diminishes, something will surely have to be done. Meanwhile, we get quite a dose of a culture very different from our own -- different from all of Europe and even that of other Muslim countries.

Turkey has long endeavored to be a secular, rather than a religious, state, though this may be changing. Fundamentalism appears to be on the rise everywhere. The single "political" statement made in the film is a bit of stenciled graffiti shown in the background that says Erdo-gone. Yes, Turkish President Erdoğan, like Saddam Hussein in Iraq, has pushed for a secular over a religions state. But he has also, like all power-hungry dictators, left a trail of blood in his wake.

To be sure, this documentary is nothing like the whole story of Turkey, nor even of Istanbul. Yet one comes away from it most impressed with the kindness of these caretakers and the myriad ways that these cats have enriched and changed their lives.

Kedi -- from Oscilloscope Films, in Turkish with English subtitles and running a just-right 79 minutes -- opens this Friday in New York City at the new Metrograph. The following Friday, February 17, it hits the Los Angels area at Laemmle's Royal, Playhouse 7 and Town Center 5. The following weeks will see the film open all across the country. Here in South Florida it will debut on March 3 and will play the Bill Cosford Cinema and the O Cinema Wnnwood in Miami, the Living Room Theaters in Boca Raton, the Classic Gateway Theatre in Fort Lauderdale, and at the Movies of Delray and Lake Worth. To view all currently scheduled playdates, cities and  theaters, click here and then click on SCREENINGS on the task bar at top.

Want an indie alternative to those Grey Shades? Rik Swartzwelder's OLD FASHIONED hits screens

“I don’t believe dating trains us to be good husbands and wives. It trains us to be skilled in the superficial.” So states a certain Clay Walsh, the sweet, stodgy but awfully hunky hero of  OLD FASHIONED, a guy who will neither step into a single woman's abode when she's alone nor allow her into his. Not until they're married, or there-abouts. Well, Clay, I would have to argue that your statement depends on what kind of "dating" one has in mind. Timed intention-ally to open on the same day as that expected-to-be-a-sexual-behemoth Fifty Shades of Grey, this new-fangled, ancient-idea movie -- written and directed by and starring Rik Swartzwelder (shown below) in the role of Clay -- turns out to be a reasonably enjoyable if predictable experience.

Almost from the first frame, the viewer also meets a young lady named Amber (a spunky, smart performance by Elizabeth Roberts, shown below), traveling to a new town with her cat in tow, and just happening to rent an apartment from our Clay. From the outset, it is clear that the movie-maker means these two souls to be destined for each other, but unfortunately it takes nearly two full hours to get them to that destination.

And yet... Getting there provides a certain amount of fun because the journey, as they say, is often as important as the arrival. I should tell you upfront, maybe warn you, that Old Fashioned is one of those Christian faith-based movies that come with increasing frequency from a little studio known as PureFlix. And although you won't find the movie mentioned on the PureFlix web site (even when you do a search for it), you can spot the logo in the credits themselves and on the poster, shown at top.

However, unlike some of the PureFlix films I've encountered, this one does not preach Jesus at you till you're ready to cry uncle. There's only a single scene taking place in a church and little mention of Christian specifics. Further, there is an important-to-the-plot, inter-racial couple (the soon-to-be-hubby of which is played by LeJon Woods, above) shown in the film, and even a nod or two to Judaism, if I'm not mistaken. So this is not your usual white-southern-fundamentalist bullshit. For this alone, plus the charm of its two leading performers, I was ready to give the movie at least a passing grade.

More than that? I'm not so sure. For all his hang-back civility and just-repressed-enough-to-be-very-hot sexuality as a performer, in his writer mode, Mr. Swartzwelder comes up somewhat short. His characters must be pretty much all or nothing examples -- for the good, as demonstrated by our Clay, or for the bad, as his college friend who still possess a frat-boy mentality, played by Tyler Hollinger (above), so crassly embodies.

The movie finally does not even make good on its initial premise that modern dating is superficial. For all the pretty scenery, landscapes, sky, clouds and "non-dates" that involves toasting marshmallows (above) or furniture-making (below), we don't really know -- in anything approaching a deep fashion -- much more about who these people are at the end of the film than we did at the beginning. They both seem superficially "chaste," just as another couple might seem superficially "lewd" because they've chosen to explore their sexuality while dating.

But at least Old Fashioned comes off as relatively non-denominational in its faith-basedness -- the single prayer around the dinner table of Clay's smart aunt (a nice job by Dorothy Silver, below) is a silent one -- and there is actually some suspense produced by our wondering just how long this perfect-for-each-other pair can be kept apart by plot shenanigans such as the sudden return of an old girlfriend or Clay's crisis-of-faith.

There is also some decent humor provided initially by Amber's means of getting Clay to handle his "landlordly" duties and thus be able to at least converse with him. There are also a strained bachelor party scene, a bit of a mystery regarding Clay's checkered past, and even some rather sophisticated inter-cutting of two scenes early on that shows some exploration of film technique.

So if the slick-and-textured look of wealth and bondage promised by Fifty Shades leaves you cold or simply hankering for something a little more cozy and sweet, try a dose of Old Fashioned -- which opens on Valentine's weekend in theaters literally all across the country. Distributed theatrically by Freestyle Releasing, and running 115 minutes, in the L.A. area, it plays the Torrance Rolling Hills 20 and in New York City at the Regal E-Walk. You can check out all the many playdates, with cities and theaters shown, by clicking here and scrolling down, down, down.....

Vincent Bal's fine feline, MISS MINOES, arrives for the holidays -- one decade late

The backstory of MISS MINOES is very nearly as interesting as the the film itself: a sweet, slight family treat about the title character, a cat who is transformed into a young woman (Carice van Houten, of Black Book and Black Death) who befriends Tibbe (Theo Maassen, shown in photo at bottom of post), a not-very-bright cub reporter for the local news-paper, and, with the help of the local felines, enables Tibbe to land some "scoops" and keep his job. Based on the 1970 novel by Annie M. G. Schmidt (one of Holland's most popular writers of children's tales) and brought to the screen by adapter/director Vincent Bal (shown below) and his co-adapters Tamara Bos and Burny Bos, the movie alternates sweet and saucy and even has it leading child character utter a four-letter word and get slapped rather nastily by the chief villain. (Certain parents will take umbrage at this, but kids'll love it.)

Surprisingly enough, the film was actually made in 2001 and released in Holland that December, after which it became the most popular Dutch film of the year and went on in 2002 to win the Best Feature Film award at the Netherlands Film Festival -- known in Holland as Golden Calf, a statuette/idol that Moses would have undoubtedly smashed. (Ms van Houten, below, also grabbed a deserved "Calf" for Best Actress.) Here in the US, Miss Minoes won Best Film at the Chicago Children's Film Festival -- an award and a venue that seems a bit more in keeping with the level of this movie. Despite a DVD release in the U.S. (carrying the new title of Undercover Kitty) from a now defunct video company, the film has gone largely unseen here in the states.

Cue Music Box Films, purveyor of quality foreign-language movies to the USA over the past few years, which felt the film was worthy of a theatrical release, despite a decade's delay. I would agree. Miss Minoes is good, silly, fantasy fun, done with style and pace and just different enough to provide receptive American kids (and their parents) an oddball treat.

And Ms van Houten could hardly be better. Those of us familiar with her work already know how beautiful she is. Here, in one of her early roles, with cat-like bearing and reticence, she's simply stunning as the newly human woman, sweet, sexy, funny and utterly adroit -- first moment to last.

Miss Minoes loves hanging out on rooftops (above) but takes to a tree, below, whenever a dog comes upon the scene, and is happy sleeping in a cardboard box and eating fresh, uncooked fish, right down to the bone. She also befriends the plucky little sub-heroine, nicely played in her film debut by Sarah Bannier, above, right.

The remainder of the cast fulfill their roles adequately in this, one of Music Box's rare forays unto dubbing. (The company simply could not have left the language intact, as young children would not be able to read the subtitles.) The dubbing is not bad, but it's not very good either. In my experience viewing dubbing, the results seem to fall into two camps: one that insists on translating the dialog correctly, even if the lip-syncing does not quite match; and the second that matches lip movement to sound almost perfectly but sacrifices meaning and content in the process. Using the first "style" of dubbing, sounds sometime appears when lips don't move (and vice versa); with the second style, a line like "Yes, I killed him, and I'm glad he's dead!" can be transposed to "Oh, my god, that purple car is now red!" But, boy, the lip movement is exact. Miss Minoes, thank goodness, errs on the side of the first dubbing style. The content and meaning come through just fine, but you will see a lot of odd lip movement, so maybe set your gaze elsewhere on the screen.

Miss Minoes  (92 minutes, dubbed in English and rated PG) opens tomorrow, Friday, December 23, in New York City at the Cinema Village and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and in Chicago at the Music Box Theatre. More cities and venues are in the works. Click here to view them, eventually.

THE FUTURE looks grim in the film of the same name by Ms kitty-cute Miranda July

THE FUTURE?  There ain't much. Or so it'll probably seem to many viewers who brave the new movie by Miranda July, the lady who, a few years back, gave us the much lighter (on its feet and otherwise) Me and You and Everyone We Know. Folk who loved her last film (yours truly, for one) will flock to her latest endeavor. Their feelings upon exiting will depend heavily on how far they are willing to go down Ms July's increasingly dark road.

Her movie begins with a cat narrating (with Miranda, shown at right, providing the animal's near-ideal voice). This seems amazingly right (to me, at least; detractors will loathe it), including the cat paws, one bandaged from an accident. (See the final photo in this post for a look at that.) Paws and voice collude to create an indelible presence, who immediately takes us in with its own story of abandonment, near-death and then salvation, at the hands of a very odd couple, Sophie (played by Ms July) and Jason (played by Hamish Linklater, below, right). The cat's story -- it comes back and back again as the film progresses -- is of equal importance to that of Sophie's and Jason's, for the animal's future is dependent upon these two twerpy "adults" adopting it prior to euthanization.

The thought of taking responsibility -- the movie's theme -- for someone (or even some thing) sets these two would-be free spirits into a terrible fright about aging, creativity, attractiveness, and lots more. So they quit their respective jobs -- he works from home as an IT helper, she teaches dance to pre-school-age kids (the kids are under that yellows cloth, in the shot below) -- in order to pursue their dreams while there's still time. Yes, these are dumb choices, but our twosome does not radiate like a bright bulb.

What happens to these two (they are generally more passive than active at any given time) makes up the meat of the movie and involves another man for her (for him, too -- but no, it's not sexual). Jason's man (Joe Putterlik, below) proves one the film's true delights and distractions. As quirky as its lead characters, Joe composes dirty ditties for his late wife and later on in the movie becomes the voice of the moon in a conversation with Jason.

As for Sophie, she gets involved with Marshall, a widower dad in suburbia (well, this is L.A., so it's all sort of suburbia) whose daughter (below) is growing more and more desperate.

Sex with Marshall is good, or at least better, or maybe just different from that of Jason, but poor Sophie is followed literally by her own crunched-up yellow t-shirt or chemise (the color yellow must mean something here, but what?) and in one of the film's most telling and odd scenes, below, she dresses/hides in this large piece of material and does a strange/wonderful dance of sorts -- a kind of re-birth, perhaps?

TrustMovies doesn't usually give away so much of a film's plot, but in this case, the connections and meanings, more than the incidents themselves, are what count. And The Future does count -- as a strange ode to failure and hope. That hopeful cat has, if not the last word, probably the best. What happens to it and what it tells us coincides, I think, with what Patricio Guzmán has to say in his wonderful docu-mentary Nostalgia for the Light. The Future, simplicity itself, may also be a little simple, but it is not simplistic. July and her characters are struggling, just like me and you and everyone we know. We are not growing up, But things are indeed growing darker.

And yet, could Rogers & Hart, in their wildest dreams, have imagined how one of their most durable songs would be used in a movie? I doubt it. See for yourself, as The Future -- 91 minutes and distributed in the USA by Roadside Attractions -- opens this Friday, July 29, in New York City at the IFC Center.  There'll be more cities and theaters to come, I am sure, though Roadside isn't telling, as of the time of this posting, at least....