William Branden Blinn | Chased / 2009

without thinking

by Douglas Messerli

 

William Branden Blinn and Taylor McPartland (screenplay), William Branden Blinn (director) Chased / 2009 [16 minutes]

 

One might argue that Chased is a continuation of the love concerns of director William Branden Blinn’s film of the previous year, Thirteen Minutes or So where in two straight men suddenly find themselves in bed together having wild sex, which they immediately after can neither explain nor fully accept. Yet despite all their denials and reassurances that this was just a one-time thing, they can’t keep their hands off one another and immediately resume where they left off, obviously discovered their sexuality in a manner that neither of them ever expected.

    In his 2009 short film Blinn begins this time with two straight collegiate football players, long-time friends Seth (Adam Kalesperis) and Charlie (Gregg Rogen), grabbing a pizza for a weekend of relaxation and fun. One of them accidentally bumps into a man standing outside the pizza parlor, obviously what college boys often call a townie, who is belligerent in the extreme about the incident. Within a moment a whole gang of local thugs have gathered ready to rough up the boys who immediately drop their boxes and run, racing through the city streets faster than they probably have ever had to in a football game. As writer Taylor McPartland puts it in his online description: “Rounding corners and jumping walls Seth and Charlie begin to depend more and more on each other as the chase continues.”

 

    For a moment they are caught by one of the thugs, but both escape again, this time running into one appears to be dead-end alley. Quickly thinking, one of the boys spots a hidden hatch that leads to the building’s basement. He opens it and the boys rush in, closing the door and pushing a garbage can in front of it. They can hear the voices of their would-attackers, confused for disappearance, but finally things appear to quiet down.

      Relieved but still angry, for a moment they blame each other for ending up in this situation, pushing and shoving until suddenly, still throbbing with the adrenaline of the event Charlie impulsively kisses Seth, who in shock backs off shouting out “What’s the matter with you?” before a second later returning an equally passionate kiss.

    In seconds the two are on the floor, Charlie on top wrestling with removing clothing as Charlie fucks Seth. In the middle of the fuck a couple of the thugs return, the heavy weight of the group now spotting the door, pulls in open and pushes away the garbage can to spot the boys almost oblivious of his presence. He quickly closes the door and demands everyone run off, presumably in disgust of what he’s just observed, a sort of reversal of what one might expect, a shock apparently to the thug-town-boy ethos.

 

    Seth is the one cannot believe what happened, his pants covered in cum which he first thinks must be piss. He rejects the entire situation and pulls away from his long-time friend even though Charlie picks him up and drives him to school each day. Charlie tries to assure his friend that it was an isolated thing, that it won’t happen again. Yet he who recognizes the meaning of the events and realizes that he’s long been fantasizing about his friend and that he probably gay, a reality Seth is not at all ready to accept.  Over the next few days there is a kind of stand-off between the two of them as neither of t hem, least of all Seth dare to even discuss what has happened between them. But Charlie, it is clear, is obsessed with his friend, finally admitting to him in private conversation near the school, he admits, “I can’t stop thinking about you. All the time. Every day. I can’t help it. I think about you before you go to bed at night. First thing in the morning….” His conversation is interrupted as they suddenly joined by a group of their male friends, who move in, one of them sitting between them. As their friends chatter, the boys both remain removed and cold to the others, finally making them realize that the two were in the middle of a serious conversation, quickly determining to leave them alone.

       Their conversation results in Seth agreeing to one more time, but this time he fucks. “You owe me,” Charlie arguing that he doesn’t owe him anything.  

       Yet the boys return to Seth’s bedroom, stripping naked, but Seth can’t even get erect, and Charlie realizes that perhaps Seth doesn’t share his feelings after all. The two get dressed and Charlie turns to go. 

       But suddenly Seth stops him, repeating word for word, Charlie’s comments, “I can’t stop thinking about you….”  And almost immediately the boys begin the passionate kiss, Seth now in full erection as they slam into the bed just as the credits begin to roll.

        Not only is this a truly sexy work, but it is well acted, beautifully filmed, and represents a fairly complex narrative structure, visually at least. The music by Mark Chait which seems to incorporate something like a native American chant is perfect for the emotional confusion of the boys who thought they were straight until they suddenly realized they were in love.

 

Los Angeles, July 29, 2024

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (July 2024).