Luiz De Barros | Clubbing / 1994

confessions

by Douglas Messerli

 

Luiz De Barros (screenwriter and director) Clubbing / 1994

 

South African director Luiz De Barros’ (using the name Luiz Barros) explores the Johannesburg area of Hillbrow—at the time, a major neighborhood of night life and gay clubs—in the 1994 film, a period in which the country was still involved in deep prejudices but was also gradually shifting to more diverse viewpoints among younger people. The younger group that gathers for a pre-club attendance at the apartment of two openly gay boys in this film (whose actors, not listed with character names, include alphabetically Karen Coetzee, Justin Cohen, Thandi Davids, George Dzerefos, Jennifer Fenton, Wayne Fick, Stephanie Kronson, Dominic Lee, and Brendan Pollecutt) represent a wide range of viewpoints, all connected in rather vague ways with friendships to the two gay men whose apartment is the starting point of a meaningless journey.

   A handsome young “straight” man—who seems to be a closeted gay boy—has insisted his girlfriend join him. She confesses to not liking gays, and in a short “off screen confession” that interrupts the narrative—one of several by different characters throughout the film—admits that she doesn’t like about gay men is that she has no power over them, having none the effects she can rely upon with straight men. “Bi guys” really freak her out, she suggests, because she doesn’t know where she stands in relationship to such men. But, she claims, “I don’t really have a problem with blacks.”

       Although at the party the couple speak out for joys of heterosexuality, in the car beforehand they argue, mostly about the differences of their groups of friends, obviously pointing to the fact that they gravitate each to a very different subset of individuals. For a young man such as this good-looking post-teen to claim a close friend with an openly gay couple in 1994 already suggests 

       The gay boys are in the midst of ecstatic sex when two women ring their doorbell, a slightly cheeky woman (who brings Andrew, one the gay boys, a condom—“the perfect gift for the post-AIDS generation) and Anna, a black woman who Andrew has evidently met long ago and with whom he had some vague communication problems.

       In an shout out of story confession from the forceful white woman we discover that she, quite contrary to several other viewpoints, has refused to take an acting class suggested to her by an agency, and insistent that she will leave the country, believing that the violence is simply going to get worse—“So why stick around for this shit; I don’t have to feel guilty about that.”  She sees a country pretty much like a job, if you get bored and grow to dislike it, you move on.

       Later at the party we discover Anna to be in a relationship with a racist black man who doesn’t like her to have white friends. Yet the other woman, despite her sense of privilege and the fact that she has a black maid, is her best friend, and she feels trapped in her relationship despite her love for her man. She and one of the gay boys get into a nasty argument as the gay man talks about current events in terms of theory while she speaks from the view of direct politics. Indeed, the young gay boy seems to be rather smug, if not outright boring, in his rather academic viewpoints of all things.

       Another woman on her way to the party is a drug addict, supposedly recovering, and her boyfriend. She is determined to pick up someone of the street to bring along, and finally finds a young skin head, a true racist who she lures to the party with the offer of drugs. And indeed, despite her supposed reformation, she interrupts her partygoing to snort a large amount of cocaine with the white racist boy before making out with him in the bathroom.

    No one at the party likes the racist, who claims he doesn’t hate blacks, but just doesn’t like them around because they’re dirty and they ruin the country. To further rub in his bigotry, the two gay boys suddenly begin to kiss, bringing out his strong homophobia. Everyone is startled somewhat by his presence.

      Even the gay couple argue at several points, suggesting that no one in this group truly loves and enjoys one another—except for the insistent heterosexual couple, who we know are somewhat lying. The gay couple, in fact, clearly are still in love and reaffirm their love as the others gather to carpool it to the club.

      As for the clubs, which they only briefly discuss, none of the them appears to be of that great of interest, many of them according to various reports being filled with still half-closeted individuals who are ill-at-ease in such a public outing. Despite the neon signs promising “Fun,” the clubs don’t seem to provide that to any members of the gathering. And when they all finally group at their automobiles, they realize they have still not chosen a particular destination for their “clubbing.”

      The diversity of this gathering certainly hints at some progress and hope of communication between the various divisions of South African society. But, on the other hand, none of these diverse individuals seems to like the others. And although they all proclaim deep friendships, they appear to be at a loss to explain their friendships, but just as fearful of losing them. Their pre-clubbing event seems strangely purposeless, just as they all appear to be individually. Race, sex, drugs, all seem to be various ways they have of coping a world in which most of their countrymen are at war with one another, none of their identities or desires fulfilling the emptiness they suffer. But the film itself, with its seemingly rough and raw honest “confessions” appears to offer a viewpoint that is rare in 1994 in the larger society, and itself represents some variation of hope.

      It took me several years of searching, after having seen De Barros’ remarkable short film Hot Legs (1995), to track down this short movie. I hope I can eventually see others of his works such as Pretty Boys (1991), Different Strokes (1995), and Metamorphosis: The Remarkable Journey of Granny Lee (2000).

 

Los Angeles, January 15, 2023

Reprinted from World Cinema Review (January 2023).