https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk02abBM3KE
Private Diary (2003)
This documentary by Basque photographer Usabiaga is at attempt to look at the relationship between the cameraman and his subject, and there’s a certain intrigue here in watching Usabiaga prowl around the beaches and gyms in search of guys off the streets who will pose for his provocative picture books. The problem is that the film itself is far too talky and pretentious–Usabiaga refuses to let his imagery speak on its own terms as he continually yabbers through everything. Some of this is helpful and informative, but most of it is hollow wordplay trying desperately to be poetic and discover something in his images besides beautiful, muscled boys.
This is a real pity since the images are extremely striking, and there’s an interesting attempt by Usabiaga to reproduce themes from famous movies in his images, such as runners on a beach a la Chariots of Fire. The still photos we see are absolutely beautiful, full of the dark emotion and magnetic pull that’s completely lacking in this film! Besides the wordy narration, the camera work is just not artful enough to carry through the concept, and there’s also a serious timidity in the video that isn’t found in the provocative pictures. Even though the models are fascinating non-professionals, we only get snippets of their stories (one’s a rower, one’s an aerobic instructor, one’s a student and so on) and fairly awkward home movies of the photo shoots. There’s none of the artistry here that’s found in Brice Webber’s similar and much stronger Chop Suey (2001). This film merely makes you want to go out and buy Usabiaga’s book so you can look at the sexy photos without the droning commentary.
