Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men (1989)
Director: David Hinton
Genre: Musical, Art
Country: UK
Year: 1989
Duration: 52 min
Stars: Lloyd Newson,Nigel Charnock, Russell Maliphant, Douglas Wright
Hands down one of the finest of all dance/film collections–for me its only competition is THE COST OF LIVING by the same group.
Powerful, sexy, intellectually stimulating, these imaginative works are stunningly filmed, using a dazzling array of camera techniques.
MONOCHROME MEN feels choreographed for the camera–a study of a serial killer who preys on gay victims, it also explores the on-again, off-again angst of bar hopping and casual sex, mixed up with fears and panics of male bonding. The creepy lighting and camera moves are a revelation, and the dancers and movement some of the best you’ll find on film.
STRANGE FISH introduces color, and an atmosphere that echoes neo-realism.
The couplings, comings and goings of a group of young people is book ended by a bombed out building and a singing female Christ figure. The mixture of humor and longing, angst and poetry is unprecedented. The always brilliant imagery is complimented by dancers who can actually act.
ENTER ACHILLES is less successful as a film, but it hardly matters, as it so vividly describes a certain macho mindset–the frightening exhibitions of supressed rage, homoerotic panic, preening and posturing so familiar in films like THE FIGHT CLUB, THE WRESTLER or most exploding car movies. The entrance of a gay outsider into this hermetically sealed bar scene is both disarming and hilarious. He brings some magic to the good old boys, and they face their inner demons. Dance as thrilling entertainment. As good as it gets.
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