Montreal Main

Vitale's first feature was the most honest film about male sexuality made to date...which is to say that it's both troubled and troubling, in the most positive sense. It centres on a character called Frank Vitale, an unemployed artist-photographer, and his circle of (predominantly gay) friends. Frank's closest friend is Bozo; they have a disastrously furtive attempt at sex together at one point, although neither considers himself gay. But their friendship, and Frank's life in general, threatens to fall apart when Frank meets the 12-year-old Johnny and in some sense falls in love with him. It's impossible to be more explicit about it, since the film itself isn't. In fact, hardly anything happens in the way of reportable incident: it plays as a stream of modest encounters and conversations, which seem like improvisations. Brilliant casting, photography, and especially editing, however, give the whole movie an acute psychological focus.