The Mountain King (2000)

Director:

Duncan Tucker

Writer:

Duncan Tucker (writer)

Release Date:

27 April 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Short

Plot:

A reserved young man meets an impulsive stranger on a secluded beach. Their brief friendship leaves each subtly changed. |

Plot Keywords:

Male Frontal Nudity | Male Nudity | Male Prostitute | Homosexual | Hustler

Cast

John Sloan	...	Beach-goer
Paul Dawson	...	Hustler

Runtime:

20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Movie Connections:

Edited into Boys to Men (2001)

Just .... WOW!

This little film, which went largely unnoticed in 2001 at most film festivals, is an incredible tour de force. An uptight, middle-class tourist (reading Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy") on a lonely beach is approached by a sleazy, obnoxious hustler. The hustler seduces -- there is no other word for it -- him into the water and then into a luxurious beach house. There, the two lives collide in a tidal wave of sex, excitement, drugs and release. Like the accompanying music (Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King," from the "Peer Gynt" suite), the film builds to an emotional crescendo that will have you on the edge of your seat. It's almost impossible to describe the emotions. It's just...WOW. The encounter with the dangerous, sleazy, manipulative hustler opens up the frigid tourist, releasing emotion like a volcano. Even when he realizes that things haven't ended up quite as safe as he'd like (abandonment, theft and breaking-and-entering being only some of the things we realize have occurred), the film's final minute is a jaw-dropping visual statement about risking everything in order to gain life. Director Duncan Tucker is someone to watch for in the future! (And so are his two actors -- just incredible!)