a bottle marked poison

been wanting to watch this for yrs so glad to finally do so now! i was sure the director's name and style were familiar and he apparently directed Caravaggio (1986) which i wasn't the biggest fan of BUT i genuinely loved this!

i think the theatrical nature of the language and story itself (being as it is based on a play by Marlowe) meant that the anachronistic music, costumes and setting didn't feel too odd and i actually thought they added SO much to the overall feeling and message of the film! but at the same time it still felt like a film and not just a filmed play which i appreciated!

there were a few moments when the surreal elements detracted from my enjoyment and came across a bit silly, but in general wow!!! really worth a watch imo!

also the performances were great (Tilda Swinton (who was also in Caravaggio) is ofc brilliant and i loved all her glittering ballgowns and earrings lol, and the lead actor wasn't perfect but i think he did a good job at portraying the naivety of Edward!)

also very funny to see Annie Lennox's name show up in the credits at the start and then she comes in and just sings a song and leaves lol... like i'm not complaining, weirdly it worked, but it was very odd lol!

also ALSO it's clear to me that the directors of Jesus Christ Superstar (2000) were clearly heavily inspired by Jarman's work lol

stumbled across this one on haveyouseenthisqueerfilm's blog (post here) and figured i'd give it a go lol!

it's a kinda slow & meandering film BUT it was honestly a super interesting watch regardless! i've never seen egypt in this time period before, and certainly not surrounding sex workers and a (fairly sympathetic) queer character (granted, the queer stuff isn't a huge part of this film lol)!

i quite liked the visuals, lots of really lovely shots of hands & the city!

also idk if it's the time period or just the setting but they have the LONGEST cigarettes i've ever seen in this loool also a lot of scenes where characters cross busy streets filled with cars that were really anxiety inducing lol

this definitely felt like a period piece and a lot of the references and humour kinda went waaaay over my head lol

maybe people more familiar with 80s american queer culture would gain more from this? cos i really think it wasn't for me pfft...

i kinda liked that it had an almost mockumentary kinda feel to it? less of film with a narrative and more of just like... a series of scenes of characters stitched together... (what else did i expect from that title looool??)

(btw it makes sense since i just looked up the director and he's a video diarist which is exactly how this feels lol also he was married to cindy sherman in the 80s/90s??? wilddd)

anyway it's only an hour but it even feels like it overstays it's welcome with that runtime pfft... regardless, it's a fascinating look into the culture of the time even if i found it kinda dull!

there's a lot of rly beautifully shot intimate scenes in this! tho the dialogue is a bit clumsy at times, the last 30 or so minutes felt a bit disjointed & the director has this tendency early on to repeat shots like it's a japanese game show lol BUT i love how tender and yet real (and at times rly devastating) so many of the scenes w/ david & mark feel!

i'll be honest, it's not rly a film i would probably seek out if it wasn't gay lol (this time of story and characters aren't the most compelling to me...) regardless it is still an amazing piece of queer cinema history!

not much to say given this is main short and sweet and not overly complex! i do think there could totally be a longer film or even series in this (esp since it introduces the main char's ocd and never rly fully explores that but i liked the way the film portrayed it!) also lovely to see vico in smth again! i see they've been in a fair few queer shorts so i might have to check out some others at some point!

wanted smth to break up the very male dominated list so far lol

u can watch it here btw!

first thing is that i was CONVINCED this was called 'all of us ARE strangers' ?!? i can't be the only one right??

anyway Fuckinggg helll this was SUCH an incredible film!!!! the scene's with adam and his parents fucked me up every time! i think in a way maybe the final reveal (no spoilers but iykyk) and everything overcomplicated the story perhaps in a way that wasn't needed? but i didn't think it was a bad thing and didn't sour the rest of the film for me!

i think my main critique is that i don't necessarily feel like andrew scott was right for the role? like he's a fantastic actor (& i think he definitely grew on me as the film went on) but idk how much i truly believed him as adam u know?? the rest of the cast were perfect tho!

as a BIG fan of the other haigh film i've seen (weekend) i could see a lot of similarities, but smth that was rly cool about this were the horror elements that were genuinely rly unsettling! idk if he's ever directed a horror film but i think he would be rlyyyy good at it!

spent most of this marvelling at how gorgeous marlene dietrich is lol

mainly watched it because i realised there were only 2 films in haveyouseenthisqueerfilm's 1910s list that i hadn't seen, and this happens to be the earliest one!

the queer element is surprisingly progressive (after turning into a man the main character kisses a Lot of women & dances with them lol they also immediately and happily embrace being a man! although, spoilers (not that i think anyone is going to watch this lmaooo) it does turn out to be a dream in the end lol kinda funny to see 'it was all a dream!' narratives in hollywood rly do go back a long ass time pfft) but yeh i knew the racist element was gonna be there but i was Not prepared for how blatant and gross it was oof...