candle in the wind
by
Douglas Messerli
John
Saint-Denis (scenario), Nino Mancusco (director) The Paris Flat / 2013
[4 minutes] [commercial advertisement]
In
this grand 4-minute long advertisement for John Saint-Denis Home Vintage
Candles we are provided with a full back story as a sequel to the company’s
previous gay ad Il Palazzo.
In this small
fiction, Paolo (Peter Calandra) and his young French lover Marc (Cheynne
Parker) are now living in a beautiful Paris apartment. However, Paolo’s company
is transferring him to the States. Paolo has an American Passport but Marc has
no way of remaining in the States, so he must leave him behind.
On the day
we encounter the couple, the day of Paolo’s flight, we rises early to empty out
his drawer of clothes, leaving behind a small box and his beautiful lover in
bed. As he sits down for a morning cup of coffee, he sadly calls up the
wonderful times he and Marc have had in the apartment
entertaining others, the beautiful face of his
lover hauntingly lingering in every memory.
He opens the door for the morning The International Herald,
and suddenly everything changes. He dresses in a suit with a joyful sense of
dispatch before serving up a platter of coffee flanked my his American and Marc’s
French passport, now removing the box left in the drawer.
As he
serves up breakfast in bed, he places the ring on Marc’s finger, and we note
the headlines of the newspaper: “U.S. Fully Recognizes Same Sex Marriage.”
Now Marc
can join him and they can marry in the US. We see both of them now dressed,
heading off to the airport, leaving behind a lovely John Saint-Denis candle.
This
lovely film, with a driving musical score by Ornella Vanoni, "La Musica è
Finita," asks also for our support of the Human Rights Campaign.
I’d
argue that this is one of the finest gay ads ever produced, caring in nearly
every detail, with beautiful black-and-white cinematography by Steven LT Smith,
and set design by John Saint-Denis. It makes me want to go out a buy a candle.
Los Angeles,
January 13, 2026
Reprinted from My
Queer Cinema blog (January 2026).
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