Bent (1997)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Sean Mathias

Writers:

Martin Sherman (play)
Martin Sherman (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

Max is gay and as such is sent to Dachau concentration camp under the Nazi regime. He tries to deny...

Plot Keywords:

Gay | Love | Nazi | Concentration Camp | Train

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Clive Owen	...	Max
Lothaire Bluteau	...	Horst
Ian McKellen	...	Uncle Freddie
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Wolf (as Nikolaj Waldau)
Mick Jagger	...	Greta / George
Brian Webber	...	Rudy
Jude Law	...	Stormtrooper
Gresby Nash	...	Waiter
Suzanne Bertish	...	Half-woman, half-man
David Meyer	...	Gestapo man
Stefan Marling	...	SS Captain
Richard Laing	...	SS guard
Crispian Belfrage	...	SS guard
Johanna Kirby	...	Muttering woman
David Phelan	...	Fluff in park

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for a strong scene of graphic sexuality.; Rated R for strong sexuality including explicit sexual dialogue, some brutal violence, language and drug use. (edited version)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:18A (Alberta) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Germany:16 (f) | Japan:R-18 | New Zealand:R18 | Brazil:14 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 | USA:R (cut) | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland, UK

Company:

Arts Council of England

Trivia:

Ian McKellen, who appears as Uncle Freddie in the film, starred in the role of Max in the original London West End theatre production in 1979.

Quotes:

Horst: We had a boy like that in school. Used to lead us in silences.
Max: Ok. I'll explain. Ok. We have to move rocks.
Horst: Yes sir.
Max: You move one rock at a time.
Horst: Yes sir.
Max: You take it over there.
Horst: Yes sir.
Max: When that pile is complete, you take one rock at a time and move it back.
Horst: You move it back? You move rocks from there to there and then from there to back again?
Max: Yes sir.

Soundtrack:

STREETS OF BERLIN

powerful

When Martin Sherman's play first appeared (with Ian McKellen as Max and Tom Bell as Horst) it caused outrage and much discussion with its sympathetic and frank treatment of forbidden love in the age of the SS.

Here it has undergone a few changes but retains its stark power. Clive Owen (probably not my first choice for the role) plays Max, the homosexual who pretends to be a Jew so he is not at the bottom of the pecking order of prisoners. The way the SS force him to prove his sexuality is shocking whether on the printed page, in a theatre, or up on the big screen. Brian Webber plays his intellectual lover Rudy with some class and it is a brief but touching performance.

Lothaire Bluteau, who I had only seen before in 'Jesus of Montreal', was brilliant in the role of Horst, the prisoner with the pink triangle who awakens Max again from his imprisoned desires. There are quiet and intense scenes between the two that are almost unbearably moving to watch, and are done within this film extremely well.

Elsewhere in the cast, Ian McKellen himself plays Uncle Freddie (but those of us who saw him as Max would love to have seen that portrayal immortalised on screen), while Mick Jagger is surprisingly good as Greta (a role which could easily be played wrong but he's spot on).

This play/film is intended to make its audience confront their prejudices, to shock, move, and inspire them. I think it is an unmissable experience - a difficult one, but worthwhile.