"Keep the Lights On": A gay breakthrough, and a great movie |

Contents:

• "KEEP THE LIGHTS ON": A GAY BREAKTHROUGH, AND A GREAT MOVIE
• MDG THERAPYMENTAL HEALTH AND POP CULTURE MEETMA MENUSKIP TO PRIMARY NTENTSKIP TO SENDARY NTENTHOMECONTACTABOUT (SORT OF)NOVEL “MDG THERAPY”SCREENPLAYDISCLAIMER/PRIVACY/COMMENTS POLICY SEARCH POST NAVIGATN ← PREV NEXT →“KEEP THE LIGHTS ON”: ILLUMATG COPENNCY A GAY COUPLE

"KEEP THE LIGHTS ON": A GAY BREAKTHROUGH, AND A GREAT MOVIE

The wrenchg gay relatnship drama "Keep the Lights On" may also be the year's bt Amerin film.

While "Keep the Lights On" is plenty explic on the subject of gay sexualy, ’s not an NC-17 picture and has relatively ltle nudy. As the filmmaker discsed a recent New York Tim terview, while he has lived an openly gay adult life his films (cludg the 2008 “Married Life, ” wh Patricia Clarkson and Chris Cooper) have primarily ncerned heterosexual relatnships.

Rather, 's a lovg but fearls portra of gay urban life at the turn of the century, seen through the prism of one dysfunctnal love affair. This movie may serve as a marketplace tt for gay-themed films the wake of crossover hs like Lisa Cholonko’s Osr-nomated “The Kids Are All Right” and Andrew Haigh’s Brish die smash “Weekend.

MDG THERAPYMENTAL HEALTH AND POP CULTURE MEETMA MENUSKIP TO PRIMARY NTENTSKIP TO SENDARY NTENTHOMECONTACTABOUT (SORT OF)NOVEL “MDG THERAPY”SCREENPLAYDISCLAIMER/PRIVACY/COMMENTS POLICY SEARCH POST NAVIGATN ← PREV NEXT →“KEEP THE LIGHTS ON”: ILLUMATG COPENNCY A GAY COUPLE

” It also may measure how far the gay muny has e on issu of self-reprentatn.

While seems unlikely that bigots and homophob would actively seek out “Keep the Lights On” (except, you know, on the sly), any who do see uld certaly cherry-pick tails to support the this that Erik's entire dre of humany are generat. Here is: “Keep the Lights On” is a landmark work gay cema, New York cema and Amerin cema.

Sachs’ characters are specifilly and regnizably gay, no doubt about ; but that’s not anywhere close to an aquate scriptn. It's an unsttg relatnship drama about two guys who fall love the most tolerant and diverse metropolis Ameri, surround by supportive gay and straight iends, and manage to screw all up wh dgs and crazs and horndoggery.

I’ve heard suggted that “Keep the Lights On” is a vert portra of the sts of homophobia; other words, that Pl and Erik wouldn’t act so crazy if our society weren’t so severely polarized around qutns of sexualy general and gay sex particular.

As Sachs has said, he’s tryg to pict a New York society that has evad the movi until now, which affluent, amb urban like Pl and Erik are not fed by their sexualy (central as is to their liv) and do not live a “Boys the Band”-style gay ghetto. Geoly photographed moody, gray hu by cematographer Thims Bakatakis, “Keep the Lights On” also featur songs by unrground New York mic legend Arthur Rsell (who died of AIDS 1992), and an ternal tribute to photographer Avery Willard, who documented New York’s gay muny the mid-20th century. Substance abe and emotnal and physil distance threaten the relatnship between a gay filmmaker (Thure Ldhardt) and his longtime lover (Zachary Booth).

The bt part the film is that shows gay upl have problems of their own too, unlike most other films of this genre where everythg go on smoothly. Sachs is also an enthiastic stunt of film history, and “Keep the Lights On” tak a look at the history of gay cema, pecially New York.

Sachs, is workg on a documentary about Avery Willard, the 20th-century photographer who chronicled gay life. Estr/The New York Tim“The film picts the muny of New York as we all live , but that we don’t see so often cema, the sense that the boundari between gay and straight have disappeared, ” Mr.

)Wh “Keep the Lights On” the screenwrers take a different approach to certa plot pots that have received clichéd treatment other films pictg gay relatnships. ” The film builds on earlier exampl of gay New York cema, like “Partg Glanc, ” a movg 1986 drama about a Manhattan uple facg geographic separatn, as well as recent, acclaimed films pictg gay relatnships, like “The Kids Are All Right” and “Weekend.

“It’s not cintal that I ma a film ‘The Delta, ’ which was about a gay teenager, and then I didn’t have a gay character my films for 15 years, ” he said. It is a tailed dissectn of the a tug-of-war gay relatnship between Erik and Pl, which soldiers on almost a the prent-time (1997-2006) Ldhardt, the Danish out-of-the-closet actor who has shown the immense stretch the sk-head gay-romance BROTHERHOOD (2009, an 8/10), transforms himself to a young immigrant documentary director Erik livg NYC, probably sex-addictive, met the dandy boy Peter (Zachary Booth), first time for sexual terurse, then the mutual attractn brgs both to a relatnship plex, which enpass an overt hdrance, Pl's dg-addn, a cliché flt even mak for the nsistent trappgs of gay life, thanks to the barren soil of the 's hard not to pare this film wh last year's die darlg WEEKEND (2011, an 8/10), both stand out among other numero lser achievers, but very disparate ways.

Neverthels, both films have a crackg two-hanr st, this se, Ldhardt and Booth are fervently sued to their tailor-ma rol, pecially Ldhardt, lerally rri the film on his shoulrs to elaborate a not-so-extraordary script, I do hope he will not be stereotyped to the gay-actor-n-never-act-straight tegory for his future reer. This movie is "homophobic" and "mak look like all gay men smoke crack"? In no ntext whatsoever was tentnally signed to pict gay men as satiable for plats that basilly go back to verisiu: people, 's an die flick, and a super- low-budget one at that.

(neher of which had anythg whatsoever to do wh the ma plot)Still, even given s flaws, 's one of the bt gay-themed die films I've seen que some time (though "Weekend" is still better all around). It avoids the most typil gay-film clichés (the g-out stori, the happy endgs, the life revolvg around diss and fabulo hags) to liver somethg raw and real.

Tale of Gay lover's efforts to save dg-addicted partner tmps his one-note obssn wh him. While attendg a recent screeng of 'Keep the Lights On', director Ira Sachs dited that the tle of his new film about a gay romance spanng approximately ten years, refers to transparency, or lack thereof.