unholy love
by
Douglas Messerli
Filippo
Demarchi (screenwriter and director) 17 anni (Age 17) / 2013 [22 minutes]
Logic clearly has nothing to do with it.
Matteo is certain, despite the priest’s religious vows, that Don Massimo, in
his regular encouragements of the young boy and in his willingness to talk with
him and asking him to join in other church-supported activities such as their
soccer games and the weekend carwash, that the older man is also attracted
equally to him.
It soon becomes obvious to almost everyone
that Matteo is making some sort of attempt to get closer to the priest—his
fellow drummer Firat (Kevin Martinetti) imagines he simply trying to “brownnose”
the older man, particularly after Matteo is awarded the position of first
drummer.
Finally, not finding his loved one in the
parish house, Matteo even breaks into Don Massimo’s room, waiting for his
arrival. The boy insists he has to talk about something important, which
finally the priest realizes has to do with sex. Suspecting that the teen is
having doubts about his sexuality, the priest assures him that such doubts are
natural and that he should go with his own feelings.
The pain of rejection at the age is
perhaps one of the deepest hurts that young men and women first encounter, and
their reaction is often thoughtlessly destructive.
On the day of the important marching
concert, Matteo takes his place in formation as they begin their dreadful
version of The Radetzky March which begins with the measured beat of his
drum. But in the midst of the performance, his drumming suddenly takes on a nearly
mad series of rhythms creating a nearly epileptic fit a drumming that goes out
of control and takes the other band performers with it. Don Massimo calls the
performance to a halt, as the boy runs off. Firat takes Matteo’s place as the
march starts over again.
Later, Don Massimo finds the isolated spot
to where Matteo has run, trying to apologize and assure him that he knows how
difficult things are for him. By this time, however, Matteo has realized the
folly of his love and in total frustration denies any advice or attentions that
the priest might have to offer. At 17, it is clear, he has realized that if he
is to survive as who he is, he must reject the church itself. With God as the
third figure in the boy’s would-be love triangle, there is no room for him.
The boy is finally left along, a pariah in
the community and an outsider in his own recognition of his homosexual desires.
Swiss writer/director Filippo Demarchi provides
no easy solutions for the dilemmas his lovingly filmed work has presented.
Matteo is at the age when he will surely soon have to leave his small town and
come to terms with who he is outside of the well-meaning gestures along with
the restrictions of society and religion in which he grew up.
Los
Angeles, September 23, 2024
Reprinted
from My Queer Cinema blog (September 2024).
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