The disnnect between the stggl of different generatns of gay men is one of most joyful through l of 'Swan Song.'
Contents:
- 'SWAN SONG' IS A 'LOVE LETTER' TO DISAPPEARG GAY CULTURE, DIRECTOR SAYS
- NEW FILM ‘SWAN SONG’ CELEBRAT AN AGG GAY MAN'S LAST HURRAH
- ‘SWAN SONG’ DIRECTOR TODD STEPHENS PAYS TRIBUTE TO SANDKY HAIRDRSER THAT BEME HIS ME & OTHER “FOREFATHERS” IN GAY COMMUNY – SXSW STUD
'SWAN SONG' IS A 'LOVE LETTER' TO DISAPPEARG GAY CULTURE, DIRECTOR SAYS
Director Todd Stephens and actor Udo Kier pay homage to hairdrser and gay bar owner Pat Psenbarger. * swan song gay hairdresser *
It's a narrative film, but the protagonist, Pat Psenbarger was a well-known flamboyant gay hairdrser Sandky. If somebody om a generatn like me - I'm 76 - bee, you know, when - I thk when he was young and you went to a gay bar, was like you were lookg left and right before you stepped the bar. Pat Psenbarger, a real-life hairdrser and queer legend Sandky, Oh, was the first gay person filmmaker Todd Stephens ever knew.
When we were lookg to st Pat, we were lookg for someone who wouldn't play a cliched gay man, someone who wouldn't play him mpy and over-the-top, " Stephens says. "Pat was there the first time I went to my first gay bar, the Universal F and Nut Company.
"Pat, 1977, opened the first gay bar Sandky. In the procs of llectg bety suppli across town, Pat, whose solary existence Sandky is brought to foc as one of the last survivg gay men of his generatn, begs to nont the ghosts of his past on his way to the funeral home.
NEW FILM ‘SWAN SONG’ CELEBRAT AN AGG GAY MAN'S LAST HURRAH
Film in Udo Kier has received some of the bt reviews of his reer for playg a retired gay hairdrser 'Swan Song.' * swan song gay hairdresser *
"'Swan Song' is a love letter to the rapidly disappearg 'gay culture' of Ameri, ” Stephens wrote his director’s statement. ”After a year of pre-productn, the low-budget film entered productn for 18 days and was shot almost entirely chronologil orr, allowg Kier to take a more methodil and immersive approach to embodyg one of the town’s former gay ins. “I like to ll like a post-gay film or post-g-out film.
Beg gay is not the nflict; the nflict is gettg old, the nflict is losg your love for what you love to do, losg your purpose, ” he said. Half a generatn of gay men died, " he said. Wrer-director Todd Stephens met the real life Pat Psenbarger a small town gay bar, and he turned that person to this engagg story by stg the great Udo Kier the lead.
The two old iends toast the bygone days of their gay club, while also acknowledgg the new world of the gay muny. Perhaps we need more movi about old maybe more specifilly, old gay men! He is a retired hairdrser and gay baret performer who liv a nursg home.
‘SWAN SONG’ DIRECTOR TODD STEPHENS PAYS TRIBUTE TO SANDKY HAIRDRSER THAT BEME HIS ME & OTHER “FOREFATHERS” IN GAY COMMUNY – SXSW STUD
Wrer-director Todd Stephens returns to his hometown, and the settg of his 1998 gay g of age movie Edge of Seventeen—Sandky, Oh—for his latt feature Swan Song, which received s world premiere at SXSW Onle today. Screen legend Udo Kier stars as Pat Psenbarger, a retired gay hairdrser livg a monotono existence a hospal-like… * swan song gay hairdresser *
A lovely movie about growg old as a gay man, and the liv that were lived back the days of bars and drag shows, and how gay life has evolved and changed. An elrgay has fallen on hard tim Sandky, Oh. A very touchg film regardls of 's gay theme.
That said, 's the gay theme that mak this film tly lovely slice of love film documents the life of a member of "the lost generatn" of gay men, most of whom died durg the AIDS crisis. And very few have had their liv dramatized such a touchg film also tells a fascatg story, a very thentic way, of how a "flamboyant" gay man lived-or moreover "survived"- a small Amerin southern town durg a time a few s ago now when was NOT okay at all to be gay, pecially if your personaly jt so big than you uld not hi your fabulo gayns no matter how much you men often had no choice other than to pursue one of a few select reers (florist, hairdrser, waer, mortician, etc.
) that society emed "acceptable" for gay men, assumg you didn't announce your gayns to most people The jobs were often the ONLY choice for such gay said, if you uld actually hi your homosexualy enough a nvcg way, you uld pursue a other more mastream reer, but if you did, such reers were often cut short if you were disvered or "outed. " And to add sult to jury, the outed men would not only lose their jobs, but they would crimal charg, go to prison, and be shunned, their liv now of the brave men (both or out of the closet durg the tim) are now part of history, many tragilly eventually dyg the 80s and early 90s om HIV-related few of this "lost generatn" of gay men survive, and those that do probably still thk no one would be terted their story.