the next step—to what?
by Douglas Messerli
Isabella Carbonell (screenwriter and director)
Bror (Brother) / 2019 [14 minutes]
If there one lesson I have learned through
watching the thousands of short LGBTQ films I have over the past years, it is
that even in the safest and most openly accepting cultures that one might
imagine, there are men and women who feel isolated and trapped with their
non-heterosexual feelings, terrified in openly expressing them; similarly, in
the most closed and dangerous societies where LGBTQ behavior might even result
in death, there are individuals who are determined to challenge the worlds in
which they live and feel free to openly express their sexuality.
Such is the paradox that Swedish director Isabella Carbonell explores in
his short film Brother.
The
film begins with Khalid laying in the grass in the middle of a field, having
needed to escape his close family life, wherein three people share the same
room. Nico comes across him in the field and the two, like young men everywhere
in cinema, challenge one another to a race. Briefly they discuss Nico’s evening
with his regular male friends. But the real question Khalid wants to ask is
about whether or not Nico has considered his request. Nico doesn’t want to even
talk about, and hopes that Khalid will give up his “nagging” about the issue,
but then admits he has given it some deep thought, but is worried because it
has “risks.”
What risks, Khalid wonders. That it won’t turn out okay, that it will be
weird. “And there are so many more reasons why we shouldn’t. But barely any
reasons why we should.” Nico is afraid that Khalid might want to start doing
things that Nico doesn’t want to.
What could that be, Khalid wonders.
Like going “to gay clubs and stuff.”
Khalid laughs: “Have I ever wanted to go to a gay club?”
Nico continues in his druthers. “If we were to try, how would we decide
who’s who?”
What could his friend possibly mean, Khalid queries.
Like who would be the man? Nico continues in his ruminations.
“What would that make the other one?”
Even Nico can eventually perceives the nonsense of his question.
“Haven’t you seen Brokeback?” Khalid asks, Nico evidently not
even having heard of it. Khalid immediately calls ups scenes on his cellphone,
forcing Nico to watch the trailer.
Nico is disturbed that it doesn’t have a happy ending, but Khalid
insists it has a great ending.
And then, Nico, shifting territory is worried about what might happen to
Khalid, from Iran as a Muslim. “That was there, we’re here,” insists Khalid.
But then there are those fears of being beaten up for being gay, Khalid
countering that doesn’t happy often in Sweden. Again, they check up on their
cellphones for statistics.
It comes down, argues Khalid, for a simple decision.
“No, you don’t get it. I’m scared shitless. But that’s okay. You’re
allowed to be scared.”
And he is willing to let his friend make up his mind. If he meets him
back at the same location a few hours later, it will be a go, otherwise they
will just remain friends.
In the last scenes, we see Khalid waiting in the goalie’s box, alone,
the time having evidently elapsed. He begins to walk off, but as the screen
goes black, we hear a shout, “Khalid!”
This is either a rather fairly profound short film or a somewhat
confused one, depending upon how one interprets the “it” they have been talking
about. If the IMDb summary suggests that Khalid is attempting to take their
relationship “to another level,” I want to know where they are starting from.
In some respects, particularly when Nico talks about who would be the man and
who the woman, it appears that he is so very naïve and unexperienced with gay
sex, that the “it” they are discussing is simply sex.
If that’s the case, I’d argue, the film quickly falls apart. Recently, I
have noted a great number of gay films directed by women, a development which I
heartily applaud. It’s certainly heartening, in general, that women have found
a new opening into film direction, cinematography, and screenwriting through
LGBTQ films in general. But I’d argue that any gay man would agree that males,
by and large, do not sit around talking about the possibility of having sex.
Sex just happens, the two boys’ bodies coming together by surprise in playing
soccer for example, through sharing a moment in a small room, leaning forward
with a touch that releases the forces of pure lust. The bodies come together
and the act is completed; only after, is the “it” discussed, rejected,
accepted, recognized as a fraught situation or a new kink in their
relationship. The males I know do not talk about sex before engaging in the
act. It seems as if we’re witnessing this film from the wrong side of the lens;
from an outsider looking in.
More likely, these two young men have already explored each other’s
cocks and asses and have enjoyed what they’ve experienced. What Khalid wants is
a true relationship, a kind of coming out, sharing their love with others,
perhaps even getting out of his room of three people to one with just the two
of them. Yes, those are all issues for discussion, for doubts, tremolos of fear
and wonderment.
The fact that Khalid discovers in this conversation, however, that his
friend has not even seen or heard about one of the iconic gay films of his time
suggests that they haven’t really talked deeply about themselves with one
another, that perhaps despite their long friendship, they really don’t quite
know one another deeply enough to even be considering a gay relationship. And
if that’s so, I have as much difficulty in believing that these two men might
be able to move beyond the sexual pleasures as I did with the cowboys in Brokeback
Mountain.
In
short, despite the fairly well-informed script, the writer/director restating
all the right issues, there is still some confusion about who her characters
are and what they really want. Far more young men that we realize have sex with
a same gender partner, but a much smaller portion of that number actually
contemplate a gay relationship with one another. We have to know what “it” is
before we put our faith in their exploration of that territory. Nico seems far
too inexperienced to enter the world of more open and longer-term relationship.
And, if it’s sex Khalid wants, I don’t think he need even ask.
Los Angeles, May 24, 2023
Reprinted from World Cinema Review (May
2023).
No comments:
Post a Comment