La Petite Mort (French Short Narrative) [Little Death]

This short film belongs to the genre of family ties. Paul is an artist, his current project is to take photos of the faces of men during orgasm. He lives with Martial, his lover. His sister Camille, who's running the family business, takes Paul to the hospital to see their father, who is dying. Paul hasn't seen him in six years. Throughout his life, he has been tormented by a photograph of himself as a baby. He believes he is incredibly ugly and rejected by his father. When his father is dying, he photographs him lying naked in his hospital bed. This is a form of revenge. After his father's death a box of family photographs is presented to Paul and he discovers the startling truth where he sees pictures of his father loving and kissing him as a baby which means the father never really thought of Paul as ugly.

This film is subtle yet disturbing, with a lot more nuances that you will find in some full length feature films. The film depicts how tension and misunderstanding can arise within a family. Paul seeks solace in his relationship with his lover Martial who assists in his photographic activities. Cast perfectly, this film is definitely worth a watch. I just wish I had a better print when I saw this one. (7/10)

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Bokura no Ai no Kanade (Japanese)

A film if done by an experienced director and well known actors, could have done wonders. A sensitive film about the growth of love between two music students with very different characters. One man who is not committed to love finds interest in another boy whose life is only dedicated to music. A very interesting plot can be created with this premise but the treatment also should be equally worth it.

Maki takes pain classes and is not very good in it. He is gay and not ashamed about it. The class also has Ruiku, who is the best on the class but is always quiet and never smiles or talks to anyone. Maki starts taking interest in him. Initially only for a hook up, he soon starts developing feelings for him and obsession to get his love. He gets Ruiku to give him piano lessons so that they could come physically together. Maki makes advances on him but Ruiku snubs back even though he likes it, saying he can only love music and nothing else. The music teacher also happens to be a screw ball and also has eyes for Ruiku. When Ruiku has a tragic accident and hurts his hand, he is in no position to give his final exams and the teacher refuses to change the exam date for him. The teacher suggests Ruiku to sleep with him if he wants the date changed but Ruiku leaves. Maki meanwhile is so in love with him, he forces himself to take care of Ruiku, even when the latter snubs him and doesn't like his coming to his house. When Maki finds out about Ruiku's childhood, he is determined to do anything to save Ruiku's career even if it means that he has to sleep with the teacher and get away from Ruiku's life forever for his sake.

Although the film doesn't end positive, but I think it was avery realistic ending. It gives you a feeling of reality ... the reality of impossible love between two men from very different world and values, and what true love leads to in the very end. I would really like to see , a good director taking this script and do something wonderful with it in the backdrop of some good music. Now that would be something very interesting to watch. As of this film is concerned, it left a lot to be desired right from acting, screenplay to the pace of the film.

A sensitive film which could be much much better. (3.5/10)

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Mauvais Genres (French) [Transfixed]

This is a movie about the people who live on the outskirts of society. Isolated and frequently shunned by the rest of the world, trans-gender and transsexual people form their own family circle. That fragile little support system is shattered to pieces by the serial killer that targets members of their sisterhood. So far so good- but that's when the problems with this movie start.

Transsexual Bo works as an entertainer in a drag club in Brussels. His best friend is Maeva, who performs with him. There is a serial killer and the prostitutes are falling prey to him who disfigures each of his victims in a vicious way. Bo, we learn, left home at age 13, unable to cope with sexual molestation from his father and the suicide of his mother, and lives quietly in a humble apartment. Her interest is peaked when a handsome young Johnny moves in next door and she fantasizes an affair with him. While Johnny appears to be infatuated with Bo, he has his dark side, living with a roommate with whom he provides sexual services for older unattractive but rich women. The police, investigates the serial killings and in some way Bo is always at the scene or is familiar with the victims. The story revolves around the cat and mouse game of surveillance and complications of information regarding the killing spree. An interesting sidebar shows Bo's father arrested for sexual harassment and Bo is interrogated by the police about his childhood traumas with his father. How Bo weaves through all of the events is the maze the story pulls us through.

The director seems little lost in this shifty world of cross-dressing hookers, hustlers and police informers. Somehow in a process the whole atmosphere of the movie becomes contrived and stilted. There were all kinds of people who got killed with different backgrounds. , they simple don't make much sense. It seems that director just made all those killings to make this movie more "interesting". There were lot of scenes that did not make any sense on why they were being done, like Bo hiding the film roll of a dead guy etc.

It is a confusing movie, that at least did not enjoy much. (4/10)

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Kinky Boots (UK)

Kinky Boots is about shoes and a reverence for footwear of all types. Though it doesn't reach Sex and the City heights of shoe obsession, it's a heartwarming story about how important fashion is in helping feminine people express themselves, presented in a very humorous manner. The film could have been a depressing forced march  on global trade but the director makes this film quirky, cheeky and imminently watchable.

Charlie Price is a young man, who has inherited his father's sinking shoe company. He wants to save the company from falling completely apart. He starts firing people and one of his employees, a lovely lady Lauren, gives him apiece of her mind to look for new ideas rather than just firing people. He travels to London for some ideas and has a chance encounter with a sassy drag queen performer Lola, whom he saved from getting harassed by drunken hoodlums. Lola complains that women's shoes don't stand up to the weight of a full-sized man in drag. Charlie thinks maybe his factory could supply a proper pair of boots with stiletto heels for Lola and the likes of her. Lola comes to the small town to help Charlie design the perfect shoe but expectedly receives cold reception from most factory workers, especially gay-hating Don. Meanwhile, Charlie's fiancé is working with a real estate agent to sell the factory. Charlie wants one last chance and with the styling eye of Lola, Charlie leads the traditional factory to design and produce shoes for the catwalk in Milan, Italy. A surprise is in store in Milan when Lola doesn't show up and it is now unto Charlie to save his company and showcase their perfect kinky boots for male transvestites.

The movie is in the naughty-but-nice British tradition in which characters walk on the wild side but never seem to do anything else there. We have character's like Charlie who wanna ave their family tradition, Lola who wants nothing but love and respect from everyone. Having been the lifelong target of contempt and rejection, she has also developed compassion for those frightened, benighted fools. Awesome acting by everyone in the movie including cameos by all factory workers makes this film a delightful watch. Kudos to Lola for portraying the role with such confidence and respect. And also thanks to the director to make this film and choosing a heavy subject but giving it a very light heart comic treatment to make it easy to watch.

This film is funny and is very strongly recommended. (7/10)

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