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| Curiosity-inspiring poster for William Friedkin's The Boys in the Band |
The Boys in the Band isn't a musical, as its posters declare, nor a film about a band. It is a daring and taboo-breaking stage adaptation of Mart Crowley's (The Men From the Boys (2002)) off-Broadway play by master director William Friedkin (The Exorcist (1973)).
Michael and Donald are preparing for the party they are throwing in Michael's New York apartment for their mutual friend Harold's birthday, when an old college chum makes a tearful surprise-call to Michael. And soon, while the party of colorful 'queens' are having a ball, the perplexing, homophobic 'ghost of the past' friend arrives on the doorstep.
The revelatory evening and night that follows in Boys in the Band is structurally reminiscent of such films as Key Largo (1948), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and The Breakfast Club (1985) in that it feels like a heightened everyday drama, concept-driven around the idea of the evening of discoveries and confessions in a single location. We may call it the 'pot-boiler'-grip.
Forgetting this somewhat unnatural narrative device, Crowley's script contains poignant dialog and zingers en masse. There are several truly funny moments, mostly stemming from the original characters and the unparalleled performers: The film reutilizes all of the stage players, and it is hard to pick out who to highlight, because they all do an exceptional job, but here goes:
Cliff Gorman (Ghost Dog (1999)) is incredible as Emory, who gets compared to a chicken wing in one hilarious scene in the film. Peter White (Thirteen Days (2000)) is superb as the straight stranger, who maybe isn't so straight when it all comes down to it. Robert La Tourneaux (Pilgrimage (1972)) is well-playing and eye-candy as Harold's present cowboy. And finally, Leonard Frey (Tattoo (1981)) is legendary as birthday boy Harold, though his character's slithering sarcasm becomes, I think, a bit too rash at times.
The details:
Friedkin was only in the first stage of his film directing career with Boys in the Band, but already his talent is obvious. Besides handling a big theater ensemble who could have easily run away with 'his' film, he achieves making a great movie, which in its look and technical side is clearly not merely filmed theater.
This amusing and melancholic drama-comedy is renowned as one of the first major American movies to deal with homosexuality in an open fashion, and I found that, looking past the campy humor and aged references, the characters still feel real and truthful today. The self-flagellation and -hatred apparent in several of them has luckily lessened for most adult homosexuals in today's world, but the film in a way only attains higher value since things have (thankfully) changed since its making.
The despair is tangible below the frail surface, but the liveliness of the characters and performers and Friedkin's sure direction prevents The Boys in the Band from ever becoming a downer. At its finest, it is a moving portrait of human beings. It is often thought-provoking and has an ending that definitely sits with you after it has left the screen.
Watch the original trailer for the film here
Cost: Reportedly 5.5 mil. $ (although it seems very high)
Box office: 3.5 mil. $ (North American rentals only)
= Uncertainty
[Though the film is considered a cult classic in gay cinema today, besides a great film, it was received more coolly and even with disdain by some critics at its premiere. Due to its subject matter, it only played big cities in the States.]
What do you think of The Boys in the Band?
Other early gay-themed films that you want to recommend?
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