Saturday, November 27, 2010

Victim (1961)

Notes: 11/27/10
Opening credits are very tense. Basil Dearden did a good job there. Exciting music by Philip Green.
Very frank subject matter. Homosexuality. Blackmail. 
Like with last year's Oscar Wilde, the Brits seem to be one of the more advanced filmmakers in terms of human sexuality.
Not all that involving, but certainly a milestone in queer cinema.

Review: B-
Exciting music, tense direction, and fine work by Dirk Bogarde still fail to make this British crime drama very involving. Despite this, it is the frank depiction of negativity towards homosexuals in 1960s England that makes this film a milestone in queer cinema. Use of the word 'homosexuality' and 'queer' was not very common in films at the time. Bogarde is a handsome leading man done up to look older and aristocratic. His commitment to the role, as well as the film's place in history, make it worth a look.

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