A story of amour fou. Walt is madly in love/lust with a young illegal Mexican immigrant. However, the object of his unrequited affection doesn't even speak any English and finds Walt really ... Read allA story of amour fou. Walt is madly in love/lust with a young illegal Mexican immigrant. However, the object of his unrequited affection doesn't even speak any English and finds Walt really strange and undesirable.A story of amour fou. Walt is madly in love/lust with a young illegal Mexican immigrant. However, the object of his unrequited affection doesn't even speak any English and finds Walt really strange and undesirable.
- Awards
- 2 wins total
- Drunk Man
- (as Bob Pitchlynn)
- Featured Wino
- (as Bad George Connor)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGus Van Sant's intimate black and white tale of l'amour fou has been hailed as a precursor to the American wave of queer cinema that started to swell in the late eighties. Its credentials are established in the opening lines as Walt (Tim Streeter), a counter jockey at a hole-in-the-wall liquor store, gazes upon Johnny (Doug Cooeyate), an illegal Mexican immigrant with fleshy lips, a wide, youthful grin, and a streak of juvenile machismo. "I want to drink this Mexican boy, Johnny Alonzo," he rhapsodizes in voice-over, and he spends the rest of the movie doing all he can to get next to this beautiful boy ("He says he's 18, but he's probably 16," Walt confesses). Johnny is full of attitude and sass and contempt for his gay admirer, but not too proud to take advantage of Walt's desire for his company to score a handout at the store or a turn behind the wheel of Walt's car (which he pilots with the reckless mania of a teenager on a video game).
The film was shot for $25,000 on 16mm black-and-white film and captures the physical and social atmosphere of Portland's run down Northwest area, of transient motels and liquor in corner stores and a homeless population loitering in the streets, with such vivid detail that you can recognize the authenticity without ever having set foot in the real life location.
- Quotes
Walt Curtis: [voice-over narration] Maybe when they're making love they can think about Roberto having fucked me. Roberto's cock fucks Johnny, fucked me. That's about as close to Johnny as I'll ever get, unless I had the money. Poor boys never win. Who fucks whom. Mala noche. Every street Mexican on sixth will think he can stick it in me, well they're wrong. But they never were too smart to begin with or they wouldn't be here.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema (2006)
The film is in black & white, the sound is (at times) incomprehensible and some of the acting is pretty bad. Also it has more than it's share of boring moments and no real ending. Still, it sticks with you.
I originally saw the film in 1990 at a film festival. I was very impressed but it wasn't available in any form. A lot of the scenes were still fresh in my mind and the acting by Tim Streeter was superb. It was until this year (2002), that I was able to see it again and that's only because the director allowed his own private print to be shown.
I still liked it a lot, but I had forgotten how bad the actors playing Mexicans were, and that there was really no ending. Still, the direction is great (very impressive considering the lack of budget) and , when it worked, it was fascinating. However it is very bleak and the subject matter may bother some people. Well worth catching...if you can.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Bad Night
- Filming locations
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $25,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,386
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,833
- Jun 3, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $62,743
- Runtime1 hour 18 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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