AmosL
11-02-2006, 09:13 PM
Finding Yourself
“VACATIONLAND’
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
I just finished my first viewing of “Vacationland” WaterBearer Films) and I can’t wait until I have more time to watch it again. It seems to me that this is a very personal movie written and directed by Todd Verow of “Frisk” fame. I read that this is an autobiographical study of his growing up in Bangor, Maine. It touched me m any times and if it is autobiographical, then he and I are very much alike.
Joe is a senior in high school and although he knows he is gay he is not out. He has been in love with his best friend Andrew for years but he has not been able to act on it. He is so unhappy at home that he movies out and in with an artist who is a bit older and who becomes his caretaker. During the course of his stay with the artist both Joe and Andrew’s girlfriends suddenly realize that the guys are more in love with each other than with them and prod the guys to make love to each other. As their affection for each other grows, the guys begin a journey of exploration into the gay world and into each other. Suddenly a visitor from Joe’s past appears and forces Joe and Andrew to face themselves, each other and their fears. Once they do so, life really begins for them.
On first watching I decided that this was another one of those quickie fluff gay films. A half an hour I could not get the movie out of my mind and I realized that I was wrong and the film kept reverberating in my mind. I don’t know if it was because it was the acting or the plot but something said to me that I had just had a profound experience. I still am not sure what it is. The plot jumped at times and I understand now that this was because our minds, when facing a new experience, do not stay focused. When that new experience is about accepting one’s homosexuality, it is not surprising that what is taken for an uneven plot is a mistaken representation. The mind was assimilating what was happening to these two guys and until they could reach self acceptance, their thoughts jumped.
The chemistry between Andrew and Joe is amazing and it caused me to wonder what happens after the movie is over. The whole idea of self acceptance and the way Verow handled it was beautiful to me. He showed what goes on in the mind of a young man facing blossoming sexuality and then coming to terms with in.
I believe WaterBearer has a hit with this film. It is one to be watched and re-watched, considered and reconsidered. “Vacationland” already made the rounds of several GLBT festivals and has been well received. It is one of those movies that begins when it’s over. What you see on the screen is food for the brain and will stay with you for long after you have seen the film.
“VACATIONLAND’
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
I just finished my first viewing of “Vacationland” WaterBearer Films) and I can’t wait until I have more time to watch it again. It seems to me that this is a very personal movie written and directed by Todd Verow of “Frisk” fame. I read that this is an autobiographical study of his growing up in Bangor, Maine. It touched me m any times and if it is autobiographical, then he and I are very much alike.
Joe is a senior in high school and although he knows he is gay he is not out. He has been in love with his best friend Andrew for years but he has not been able to act on it. He is so unhappy at home that he movies out and in with an artist who is a bit older and who becomes his caretaker. During the course of his stay with the artist both Joe and Andrew’s girlfriends suddenly realize that the guys are more in love with each other than with them and prod the guys to make love to each other. As their affection for each other grows, the guys begin a journey of exploration into the gay world and into each other. Suddenly a visitor from Joe’s past appears and forces Joe and Andrew to face themselves, each other and their fears. Once they do so, life really begins for them.
On first watching I decided that this was another one of those quickie fluff gay films. A half an hour I could not get the movie out of my mind and I realized that I was wrong and the film kept reverberating in my mind. I don’t know if it was because it was the acting or the plot but something said to me that I had just had a profound experience. I still am not sure what it is. The plot jumped at times and I understand now that this was because our minds, when facing a new experience, do not stay focused. When that new experience is about accepting one’s homosexuality, it is not surprising that what is taken for an uneven plot is a mistaken representation. The mind was assimilating what was happening to these two guys and until they could reach self acceptance, their thoughts jumped.
The chemistry between Andrew and Joe is amazing and it caused me to wonder what happens after the movie is over. The whole idea of self acceptance and the way Verow handled it was beautiful to me. He showed what goes on in the mind of a young man facing blossoming sexuality and then coming to terms with in.
I believe WaterBearer has a hit with this film. It is one to be watched and re-watched, considered and reconsidered. “Vacationland” already made the rounds of several GLBT festivals and has been well received. It is one of those movies that begins when it’s over. What you see on the screen is food for the brain and will stay with you for long after you have seen the film.