laduqesa Reviews

Concordia (2024– )

Reasonable series

[7/10 · 13 June 2024]

I watched it all within a thirty six hour period. One thing I'll say right away is that I'm going slightly deaf and I tend not to watch programmes where people are using English as a second language because I often can't decipher what they're saying because of the accents. There was no problem here at all. All the actors and actresses spoke good, clear English. In addition there were subtitles even for the English dialogue.

The idea here was intriguing, a crime-free model city founded on the basis of twenty four/seven surveillance of everyone everywhere even in citizens' lavatories but with ironclad safeguards.

The other theme was that the idealistic founding principles were tainted by a terrible event in the past, parts of which had been covered up. The very founder of the concept had hidden away knowledge about a crime that had led to the project's inauguration.

The sixth and final episode (IMDb has got it wrong) leaves us to contemplate the possible unravelling of the idea as blue lights are seen outside the miscreant's home. Can Concordia sustain itself in light of the shock? We are left to wonder. I'm glad I saw this through to the end. It was interesting enough to do so.

Habib & the Thief (2021)

Internal inconsistencies

[2/10 · 11 June 2024]

The world portrayed in this film is absolutely not my one and this put me right off the short immediately. This is the sort of gay scene I try to avoid. However, having lived in two arab countries and seen many emigré arab gay guys, my experience has been that to acknowledge themselves as gay, many of them have to become as camp as Christmas. This is the case here.

However, the plot doesn't ring true. After the queerbashing by the cab driver, Habib refused to complain to the cops on the grounds that the driver knows his brother. First of all, it's utterly impossible for the brother not to know that Habib is gay given his feminine personality. And secondly, there's no way the driver is not going to tell any brother that he saw his sibling in makeup and coming from a gay club in any case. So there's no rationale for refusing police intervention.

These are pretty large deficiencies to have to grapple with. I've previously seen the actor playing Habib in another similar short with similar themes. I'll try to avoid seeing any more of these efforts in the future. Not recommended.

Omar (2009)

Wow

[8/10 · 10 June 2024]

A view of the "cités" that isn't from CiteBeur! I've never lived in a cité (council flat area) but I've visited them. And what I've found out is that the level of man on man action there is the same as elsewhere in France. However, the level of discretion and denial is off the scale.

This short encapsulates this perfectly. An ostracised, faggy lad in a secret affair with a supposedly straight footballer. Thank goodness they had rap lyrics both to unite them and inspire them to break out.

This was eight minutes of accuracy, tragedy and hope. So many gay-themed films end up sadly. I'm glad this little gem didn't.

Kuppel 16 (2022– )

Passable kids' adventure

[7/10 · 8 June 2024]

Nonetheless, I watched it all within the space of forty eight hours. The series had something going for it. The two leads playing Emma and Anton were professional and convincing.

We had a science fiction tale embodying the old story - the rich are privileged and the poor have to make do. Here it's a matter of life and death though as the ecological catastrophe has meant the majority of people subsist on mass-produced gruel and the rich can theoretically live forever, cut off from the pollution and diseases outside their sealed domes.

Emma and Anton come from opposite sides of the divide and their story is how they overcome hatred of the "other" and prejudice.

Even though it's presumably aimed at kids I still liked this as an easy way to pass a few hours.

Doorman (2006)

Very good short

[8/10 · 5 June 2024]

As the IMDb outline explains, Diego is seduced by Garrett. But there's so much more to this low-budget film than this bare outline.

Both actors play a blinder and encapsulate variations of the gay experience, Diego hesitant and inexperienced but Garret worldly and seeking new sensations to satiate his jaded palate.

There's little dialogue and these two guys do a fantastic job of alluding to their feelings and emotions by gesture and body language.

The ending is a revelation and is not consistent with the plot outlined on this site. There's no other way it could have ended really. Two worlds collided, united and parted.

A definite recommendation.

After the Sky Turned Black (2012)

Good plot ruined by technical deficiencies

[3/10 · 5 June 2024]

I came to this from a site that gave it a glowing review. The reviewer's hearing must be miles better than mine (not too hard a feat). The short is shot in a room where outside noise intrudes horribly, traffic, police sirens, just background rumble. What this meant was that the overdramatised dialogue could barely be heard at times. .Much worse though was the dreadful music used here. Soaring violins at a high pitch completely drowned out any speech at all while it was playing.

As for the plot, harking back to what was lost in terms of relationships as well as sight, alongside the present-day events going on, well there was just not enough time to develop and make meaningful any real story. This needed twenty minutes not ten. I wanted to know more about the boy, the ex, Karachi.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend this at all.

The Invisible Men (2012)

Victims

[6/10 · 5 June 2024]

It's heads I win, tails you lose for gay Palestinians in either the illusive security of Israel or in the closet in Occupied Palestine. As one of the three interviewees found out, being gay as a Palestinian in Israel might mean you're a spy. There have been dozens of cases of gay Palestinians being caught and blackmailed by Shin Bet to spy, or worse, for the Zionists.

The hypocrisy of the Palestinian side is barely better. Despite there being no laws against gay sex in the West Bank, societal disapproval is ubiquitous. And that's in a society where man on man action is far more common than in the West - as long as no one finds out.

The three lads cut tragic figures. With no place in their own country they have to live in one that denies their existence. Although I'm sure it wasn't meant to, this documentary shines a glaring light on the contradictions of Israeli society and exposed its Gay Pride and supposed liberalism as fake and a sham. Indifference to the suffering of these guys means that Israel's projection of itself as a beacon is false and pinkwashing, pure and simple.

Song of Love (1950)

A timeless classic

[9/10 · 4 June 2024]

Imagery and metaphor as well as brutally realistic scenes. Its image of smoke through the wall has been copied in other, lesser films.

So original and daring for its time, the film still has the power to shock seventy five years later.

The power of the imagination to transcend quotidian setbacks and hurts is stunning. During the attack by the prison guard, the older prisoner fantasises about an idyllic afternoon with his beau from the next cell. When the gun is inserted it's at the moment in his mind that he finally gets to pleasure the younger man. The dank prison and the sadistic, jealous guard can't overcome desire, longing and the power of the mind.

The hand catching the flowers at the end is the final triumph. Separated but not separate, connection wins out.

Sex Date (2014)

Bit of a romp

[5/10 · 3 June 2024]

Imagine being chased by the cops and finding refuge as the mistaken online date of a gay guy when you're straight. You have to keep up the act as the cops are literally in the street outside. Or is Randall straight? He's got some overwhelmingly gay mannerisms as pronounced as those of Kenton who's openly out.

The two leads fumble to getting it on and are foiled twice. It looks like Randall's gay after all despite the straight-boy clothes and lack of knowledge of gay vocabulary.

The ending is equivocal. Do they meet up again? Or are they ships that pass in the night? It's a good job we spectators have our imaginations.

Weakly recommended.

Amor Proibido (2012)

Shoestring budget

[3/10 · 2 June 2024]

The budget for this film must have been so low as to be minuscule. Coupled with poor acting and a dire script, this didn't make for a satisfying short.

One thing the protagonist Paolo got right was that it's inconceivable that young people in the 21st century could have such antediluvian viewpoints. And the story had internal contradictions. Paolo was rejected by his love interest who never wanted to see his face again. Yet by the end of the film, he said they would still be friends despite the gay aspect. Why didn't Marina ever, in the past, say she fancied Paolo? After all, he was in the closet until the timeframe of the events were watching. So if she wanted him so badly, there'd have been no barriers against trying.

I've given three stars because I didn't see the twist at the end. But even that ending was vastly pessimistic in the context of a gay film.

Los ojos de Emilio (2005)

Nice little vignette

[6/10 · 2 June 2024]

I had thought that David would remain an unseen mystery presence in the film and until about a third of the way in, his face was unseen and only portions of his body were shown. It might have been better if he'd remained invisible and unheard apart from in Emiliano's memory. The problem was his accent when speaking English. As soon as he opened his mouth, it was clear that he was not a native English speaker.

Nonetheless, Emiliano went on a mission impossible to follow him to the seaside after missing a date together.

The film is about preferring the ephemeral and unattainable instead of living in the here and now. Jorge would have been a better bet than an idea but obsession won out.

This was a nice film, well acted. It usefully filled twenty minutes of a slow Sunday afternoon.

Max (III) (2019)

Good enough to watch

[7/10 · 30 May 2024]

This short is only five minutes long but packs a lot in. There's a load of back story that cleverly comes out, especially about the supposedly straight boy Max.

Antoine's initial overtures are rejected and the mellow scene becomes hostile. Accusations are hurled and it slowly becomes clear that Max is in the closet and afraid to come out. Eventually a fight breaks out between the lads that leads to a breakthrough. It's not a case of a straight boy giving homosex a whirl with a friend.

For the future, we have to imagine. Will the best friends become a couple or is this a one-night stand? Either way a barrier has been breached for the good.

Délits mineurs (2023– )

Exaggerated but watchable

[7/10 · 29 May 2024]

I declare an interest immediately. I worked in Social Services in the UK for many years with "problem" children. Pert of why I gave up is exemplified here in this series. Children who are hurting, many for reasons to do with childhood abuse, need to feel safe. They cannot feel safe without boundaries and consequences. As shown in this series, and was happening in the UK there are few consequences and fewer boundaries. Misbehave and be fined tuppence. Hit a social worker and be let off. This was on show in these episodes. Yet a cop who restrains a violent kid during an arrest gets put on supervision.

The plot was driven by this ethos with misplaced leniency leading to further damaging events. We even saw kids laughing up their sleeves at the "stupidity" of the judge and social worker.

This was overdone at times in this series especially in the final episode. And I don't believe for one second that any Western European social services department would allow a delinquent teenager to live with an ex-con Dad without proper investigation.

Was it worth watching? Yes. I wanted to know what would happen in the next episode. And I wanted to have my guess at the murderer confirmed or otherwise. So this is a definite recommendation despite how angry the series made me feel at times.

Aceito (2014)

Not for me

[3/10 · 27 May 2024]

It's just not my world. Screaming queens and butch women complicit in an attempt to celebrate the acceptance of a marriage proposal. I'd have been far more furious in André's place than he was. And his arguments against the affair were pretty good too.

Do people really do something like this? I know marriage proposals are made out of the blue sometimes but to have a load of friends listening in on it just wouldn't happen in any gay world I've been in.

This film gets three stars because I laughed out loud once. It was at the only cruel moment in the film and I wish there had been more of them.

Performance Anxiety (2012)

Good short

[8/10 · 26 May 2024]

This film about a couple of straight guys having to rehearse and then perform a gay sex scene together is a real gem. First of all, an aperçu about the leads. They are both straight hunks, the sort of man most gay guys would hope might be gay or, as a minimum, bi.

As they rehearse their rôles together the director and scriptwriter cleverly and slowly engender a feeling of "are they actually really gay". In the end we see the film they are meant to be appearing in and all doubts are gone. These guys give a convincing performance of a pair of gay lovers forty years ago.

Except there's an epilogue. The guys appear in real life explaining their sexuality and life circumstances. They're straight. But, blooming hell they were so convincing as queers.

As a glimpse into make believe this film would be hard to beat. Despite the coda, I'm still left wondering.

Shower (I) (2012)

Horrible and unpleasant

[3/10 · 26 May 2024]

I truly dislike violence either in a sexual relationship or engendered by one. In fact, the violence at the end of the film is so gratuitous and extraneous that it simply doesn't ring true. Who would best a man to a pulp in front of a witness, moreover one who's seen the moment of intimate congress between attacker and victim? It doesn't make sense. The attacker is going to go to prison for a very long time.

The film reminded me of the loathsome short "Bramadero" which also culminates in a dreadful and unwarranted act of violence after consensual sex. At least that film had something going for it in the sensuous and unsimulated scenes before the ghastly ending. This film was well, discreet. That's Norway for you.

As a side observation, the actor playing the attacker clearly couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag in real life. It was unreal to watch him take on and beat a strapping lad.

I'm glad I wasted a few minutes of life to watch this if only to debunk in my own mind the huge praise this film has garnered so undeservedly.

Omnibus: I Regret Nothing (1970) Season 4, Episode 13

This series was a winner

[9/10 · 21 May 2024]

I used to try religiously to watch Omnibus every week. As the series ran for many years, I obviously missed loads of them. In addition to the ones on David Bowie, Leonard Bernstein, as well as programmes on classical composers, I particularly remember the one on Edith Piaf. She'd been dead for a couple of years before I had my first sojourn in France but she remained ubiquitous in a similar way that Um Koulthoum still is in the Arab world. I came back from France with a heap of EPs and LPs of her.

So when it was announced that this Omnibus edition would be about her, I made sure of tuning in. Over fifty years later I remember little except that I was transfixed. I do have a memory of her performing Milord in the programme and clearly having a great time using the whole stage as a prop. IMDb tells me Charles Aznavour appeared but I don't remember that. I wish I did.

I'd love to see this again. In black and white!

The Bridge (2011–2018)

So original

[9/10 · 21 May 2024]

This was one of the Scandinavian series that proved that a British audience would watch a complicated, intricate, foreign series that was subtitled. It was of particular piquancy to me because I understand some Swedish and it was perfectly bizarre to be able to know what some characters were saying and moments later when Danish was being spoken to have to carefully read the text again.

All four series were of a uniformly high standard and the fourth season ended appropriately, on a high. Any more and the quality would have suffered, I think.

Very few "Scandi Noir" series have reached the heights of this one and I'm glad I got into it right at the beginning.

Polar Park (2023– )

First review

[4/10 · 21 May 2024]

I guess that not many people have watched this. I sat through the lot and it's not a raving success at all unfortunately. It's a police procedural that relies on superstition and signals from the ether on many occasions to move forward. Added to that, the goodies are meant to deduce clues from the main protagonist's books which we have no access to because they're imaginary to this series. So this isn't a detective story to derive pleasure from by working out whodunnit. Indeed, the nutter is blindingly obvious from episode two and revealed in episode four so the programme becomes an exercise in signs and portents to reveal the whereabouts of the miscreants.

There were a couple of subplots that had a vague interest - a closeted gay affair, an unknown father. However, these had little bearing or influence on the main plot.

I'd say give it a watch if one has loads of time and wants to switch off one's brain entirely. Otherwise watch a couple of good films instead.

Kotlina (2022– )

Dead and buried

[1/10 · 17 May 2024]

I had been fascinated to see that this was a series from Bosnia Herzegovina as I'd never seen anything from that country before. The first impression I got was that it does the country down - it's corrupt. Prosecutors want fake confessions just to close a case, museum directors are fiddling the books, cops are bent.

I managed one and a half episodes before giving up completely. The over elaborate plots, wooden acting, washed out photography all conspired to convince me there was no point in inflicting more of this on myself. Even though there are only five episodes I wanted those hours of my life to be spent on something worthwhile.

I can't get over how bad this was. Don't make my mistake and start watching.

Die Quellen des Bösen (2023– )

I'm not going to be popular

[3/10 · 16 May 2024]

This was pretty bad. A ridiculous story involving superstition and messages from spirits. I also had difficulty understanding why an actor of Turkish descent had been chosen to play a cop with a quintessentially Germanic name like Larssen.

Neither did I swallow the side story about the ex-lover and son. Both Larssen and his lover were clearly being followed and observed. Very careless to leave incriminating evidence around that led to blackmail.

The weirdo family in the forest were a ridiculous addition to the mix. Added to werewolves and spirit-ravens that give the game away the plot got weaker and weaker.

In the end, no one "nice" got killed despite red herrings indicating the contrary. It all ended happily ever after.

Honestly it was totally risible.

Veronika (2024– )

Atrocious

[2/10 · 9 May 2024]

What on earth was Alexandra Rapaport doing in this? She can't be short of a bob or two from her work in Murders in Sandhamn. Perhaps she accepted the commission without reading the script. Whatever the reason, her presence couldn't redeem this mixture of fantasy and tosh. We watched as a woman who was clearly mentally ill was allowed to continue working as a policewoman after two previous hospitalisations for psychosis. All the time we were being asked to believe that delusions of dead people appearing were actually real and were aids to solving murder cases. I've got news for the scriptwriters. Delusions are just that and the illness causing them needs to be treated.

I realise why the mental illness angle was pushed so forcefully. There were no actual clues in these cold cases susceptible to police work so the hallucinations had to be used to solve the case.

In the result this was a totally unbelievable scenario that should have either been binned or rewritten.

Just as an aside, I had never realised how tiny Rapaport is. The men in the series towered over her, particularly her screen husband.

I sat through the lot but it got more ridiculous as it went on. I'd advise giving this a miss. 2 stars because I got to the end.

En kunglig affär (2021)

Fascinating

[8/10 · 23 April 2024]

This was a somewhat fictionalised account of the relationship between King Gustav V and Kurt Haijby, a restaurateur and ex convict. It is also a truncated version of the several miscarriages of justice and outright persecution of Haijby by the Swedish establishment to prevent the affair coming to light.

The production values and acting in the series were good. Sets and clothing were excellent although there were some jarring dissonances. Haijby was sent to Germany before the war but the music accompanying his first night there, despite being an appropriate song of love and longing for the King, was in fact "Ich weiß es weird einmal ein Wunder geschehen" by Zarah Leander and was not recorded until 1942 and taken from the notorious propaganda film "Die Große Liebe". It really was an annoying niggle!

The actor playing Kurt really got into his rôle and underwent the full gamut of emotions and aging.

As an indictment of the ruthlessness and spite of the Swedish deep state, the series was spot on. Sweden's façade of democracy and openness has always been skin deep.

This is a definite recommendation.

Prise au piège (2019)

Plot inconsistencies

[5/10 · 22 April 2024]

I watched this over a couple of days. At times I was willing time to pass more quickly so I could get it over and done with. Little things irritated me that just weren't believable or likely. Side plots that weren't relevant had clearly been stuck in to culminate in the next twists and turns.

I wish I knew the location of the prison. It's a magnificent piece of architecture. However, for what appeared to be a thousand women, there only ever seemed to be five or six prison screws present at any one time. No wonder crime was so rife there.

The finale was not at all credible especially in terms of who lived and who died. And I refuse to believe that the survivors would not have been restrained.

All in all this was unsatisfactory. Ok, I watched till the end but I can't really recommend it. There's much better out there.

Sekunnit (2024– )

Intelligent, well thought out

[8/10 · 20 April 2024]

On the face of it, a series about an accident investigation team doesn't seem like an enticing prospect. However, like many Finnish programmes, it was aimed at an intelligent and literate audience which most of Finland is.

The characters were well rounded with appealing and credible back stories. It wasn't all perfect! The adulterous affair between the wife of one of the injured victims and an investigator was not really true to life given his upbringing and beliefs. And the ending just prior to the team's press conference giving the results of the investigation was melodramatic.

This was a complete series with no cliffhanger but there's obviously scope to devise a season two. I enjoyed this and recommend it.