Contact (2002)
Director: Kieran Galvin
Genre: Short movie
Country: Australia
Year: 2002
Stars: Michael Teulon, Beejan Olfat and Jill McKay
Nakon smrti svog partnera, Paul se vraća u Queensland poslije višegodišnjeg izbivanja od kuće. Sa porodicom ne može podjeliti svoju tugu i vrijeme provodi sa malim bratovljevim sinom.
Svakodnevno ide na plažu i susreće se sa homofobnom zajednicom lokalnih surfera koji na neki način zaziru od njega, oćito ne usuđujući se da ispolje bilo kakvu agresivnu reakciju, a ako bi i pokušali Paul koji je odrastao u tom kraju, nedvosmisleno muškim stavom ih u trenu obeshrabri.
U obližnjem javnom WC-u grafiti pokazuju homofobičnost onih koji su ih pisali, ali jedan stavlja do znanja da ima i onih koji traže srodnu dušu.
Na taj način Pul upoznaje lokalnog momka, ali u filmu se priča ne završava, ostavljajući nam da je sami završimo.
Ipak Paul je svjestan da razlika u godinama ne daje neku nadu u odnosu sa lokalnim momkom.
Like his bittersweet short The Burning Boy, here writer and director Kieran Galvin again takes delight in charting the emotions of love, loss and longing.
Only this time Galvin tells the tale of thirty-something Paul; a closeted man who still mourning the death of his partner Alex, opts to return home to his family in Queensland, an ill-advised decision, given the Alex they knew was nothing more than a friend of their son. Unable to share his grief with his family and seemingly alone in the homophobic surfing community of his birth, his only ray of sunshine is time spent with his brothers’ children. Seaside fun, that sees him take to writing graffiti on the beach styled changing room walls, a toilet message board system that alarmingly reflects the sexual prejudices of the locals, just as it equally shows that he is not alone. Only who is the other gay in the village, that of a mysterious contact looking for friendship and perhaps something more?
Based on the short story of the same name by John Lonie and vividly depicted in monochrome, as intercut with colour flashbacks to happier times spent with the love of his life, here Galvin has triumphantly delivered a work that is as lovingly shot, as it is emotionally scored. Only in this instance, it arrives with a more upbeat ending than previous, even if the mournful nature of the narrative is all but ingrained into the celluloid. For this is the story of a son who has become a stranger to his family, unable to mourn the loss of his partner without giving away the true nature of his sexuality. That Paul sees in his friendship with another gay man, a means to be open with his feelings, is all but clear. Yet in knowing the age difference between the two, Galvin interestingly cuts the film short, that of a conclusion deliberately left open for you to decide what happens next.
For just how old is this flirtatious youth? How would their friendship have developed? And just how did Paul’s partner actually die? Unanswered questions that tell of a short being – well, just too short. But oh, it’s so beautifully told.
Multi-award winning short film. Grieving from the death of his male partner, Paul – who is not out to his family, returns home to spend time with them but his lonliness drives him towards a teenage boy. From director Kieran Galvin (The Burning Boy)
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