the kiss in the mirror
by
Douglas Messerli
Raj
Jain (screenwriter and director) Ammi / 2019 [8 minutes]
The son, Ibrahim, even admits to his
lover Jimmy (Joseph Pugh) that he has never felt he has had a father in Taahir
(Afrog Khan), the man who went missing from his life as well. It is a
strange reaction to someone who shares the same sexual desires; but he,
evidently, cannot accept them in a father, who perhaps, in
his imagination, should be a normative heterosexual.
Things seem to go quite nicely, with the
boyfriend complementing his friend’s mother for the wonderful meal, while also
paying attention to the father. But when he asks to visit the bathroom, the
husband, rather inexplicably, leads the way, the boy’s mother catching the two
of them, her son’s boyfriend and her own husband, in a deep kiss in the mirror
as she passes the room.
Strangely, in this film it is neither her son’s or husband’s homosexuality that is the question, but her husband’s attempt to usurp in his sexual desires even with her son’s boyfriend that determines her actions.
This fascinating work of homosexual
acceptance might have resulted in a kind of coming out movie, for either father
or son. But in this case, since everyone is out, it is only the rejected mother
who must make her decisions, challenges which she finally recognizes when her
own son’s lover has become the object of her husband’s desires.
Jain’s work, accordingly is an oddly
perverse story that doesn’t quite fit into the typical homosexual canon, but is
more interesting for that very reason. My only wish is that this short film
were more professionally accomplished. This movie does not seem to be listed
even on IMDb, nor on any of the other typical film sites. I feel fortunate to
have found it on the Audprop site of award queer films.
Los
Angeles, March 1, 2024
Reprinted
from My Queer Cinema Blog (March 2024).
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