Niklas Hogner as Tom of Finland’s character “Kake.” Photo by Josef Persson, courtesy Kino Lorber.
Back in the day, straight men had their pin-up girls, and gay men (secretly) had “Tom of Finland.”
Opening today in New York City and in Los Angeles/San Francisco October 20 prior to national release, make sure you see Tom of Finland.
The film, Finland’s official submission for 2018 Academy Awards Foreign Language category, chronicles the journey of gay artist Touko Laaksonen.
A decorated officer in World War II, Laaksonen returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country.
But life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds post-war Helsinki rampant with homophobic persecution, and gay men around him are being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art: homoerotic drawings of hyper-masculine men, free of inhibitions.
But it is only when an American publisher sees Laaksonen’s work and invites him to travel to the West Coast that his life came into focus. Finally living free and proud in Los Angeles, Tuoko dives head first into the sexual revolution, becoming an icon and a rallying point.
His work – made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of the worldwide gay revolution.
Award-winning filmmaker Dome Karukoski brings to screen the life and work of one of the most influential and celebrated figures of twentieth-century LGBTQ culture.
When I first heard of a film called Tom of Finland, I actually expected something of a different nature. Something a bit more “Tom of Finland.” Considering the subject matter I was surprised that the creators were a bit shy about nudity in the film.
But that’s not to say this film doesn’t deliver.
Pekka Strang gives a thoughtful and sensitive performance as Laaksonen. And Karukoski makes creative use of Laaksonen’s muse “Kake,” who appears when the artist finds himself in turmoil.
While the first half of the film lays the foundation for pensive story-telling, I think audiences will find the second half, as Laaksonen evolves as a mature gay man and artist, more compelling.
Seeing Strang take in the impact of Laaksonen’s drawings on the gay community in Los Angeles during the sexual revolution of the 70s is potent stuff.
Kudos to cinematographer Lasse Frank Johannessen’s eye for shadow and light, especially during dramatically taut late-night park scenes as men search for physical connections.
The score by Lasse Enersen and Hildur Guðnadóttir offers emotional support and nuance.
While homosexual persecution in Finland sounds a century away, it’s all too relevant with gay men in Chechnya being hunted down, tortured and killed today. The realities Laaksonen faced are not behind us.
The film has been extremely well received at film festivals all over the world (official selection at Tribeca International Film Festival and Outfest 2017) and is Finland’s official submission for 2018 Academy Awards.
Watch the trailer below. And head over to the film’s website for release dates in your city.
• I’d love to say the above looks just like how hot hubby Michael and I begin our mornings, but it kinda wouldn’t be exactly the altogether, absolute truth… 🙂
• A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Donald Trump’s support in rural America is eroding. Back in February, 55% of rural Americans approved of Trump, 39% disapproved. That’s now dropped to 47% approval, 47% disapproval. This is his base, and they are growing weary of his antics.
• Hey NYC – don’t miss the Ali Forney Center’s Annual Fall Gala “A Place At The Table” this coming Friday. The event is hosted by Tituss Burgess and honoring Lady Gaga and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. BUT – the main deal is supporting an awesome organization that helps at risk LGBT homeless youth.
• The Apprentice producer Bill Pruitt admits Donald Trump used lots of racial slurs on the set of the now defunct reality show. Pruitt says he never called the Trumpster out because it wasn’t his job to do so.
• Check out the trailer for the upcoming Danseur, a documentary on young male ballet dancers. The clip description reads, “Unfortunately, not everything is beautiful in ballet. Young boys are often verbally, physically abused and bullied. These are their stories.”
The new short film Call Your Father is quite the deep dive into the world of intergenerational dating.
Written, directed and starring Jordan Firstman, the dark comedy follows the baneful first date between a 50-year-old “daddy” (played with great nuance by Craig Chester) and a 24-year-old impetuous “poet” (played by Firstman).
Poet “Josh” demonstrates just about every bad behavior you could imagine in a millennial including texting while daddy “Greg” tries to have a conversation as well as accusing “Greg” of being sad, all while sticking “Greg” with the bill wherever they go.
It would seem the only thing “Josh” is good at is sex. Well, at least there’s that.
Kudos to Firstman for bringing a quixotic sense of charm to “Josh” if only through briefly glimpsed vulnerability. And I think most viewers will relate to Chester’s thoughtful, sensitive performance although I can admit I’d have been outta there much sooner than his “Greg.”
• The LGBTQ community got a one-two punch this week as the Trump administration goes after transgender protections in the workplace as well as giving a license to discriminate against LGBTs via “religious freedoms”
• California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation into law bringing outdated HIV laws in line with new science
• We remember one of the gay victims of the Las Vegas shooting massacre
• A new poll shows, for the first time, majorities in both political parties believe homosexuality should be accepted
• Ricky Martin wants to share his upcoming wedding with the world
• For the first time, a rainbow Pride flag will fly permanently over federal land
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
France’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, BPM (Beats Per Minute) takes an unflinching look at ACT UP Paris in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, and we get the first American trailer today.
Clip description:
In Paris in the early 1990s, a group of activists goes to battle for those stricken with HIV/AIDS, taking on sluggish government agencies and major pharmaceutical companies in bold, invasive actions. The organization is ACT UP, and its members, many of them gay and HIV-positive, embrace their mission with a literal life-or-death urgency.
Amid rallies, protests, fierce debates and ecstatic dance parties, the newcomer Nathan falls in love with Sean, the group’s radical firebrand, and their passion sparks against the shadow of mortality as the activists fight for a breakthrough.
What does it take to fight a pandemic? Knowledge, courage and resilience, certainly, but also rough-and-tumble argument, a range of friendships both consoling and abrasive, a healthy sense of gallows humor and soul-sustaining supplies of loud music and louder sex.
French writer-director Robin Campillo understands all of this in “BPM (Beats Per Minute),” his sprawling, thrilling, finally heart-bursting group portrait of Parisian AIDS activists in the early 1990s. A rare and invaluable non-American view of the global health crisis that decimated, among others, the gay community in the looming shadow of the 21st century, Campillo’s unabashedly untidy film stands as a hot-blooded counter to the more polite strain of political engagement present in such prestige AIDS dramas as “Philadelphia” and “Dallas Buyers Club.”
Candidly queer in its perspective and unafraid of eroticism in the face of tragedy, this robust Cannes competition entry is nonetheless emotionally immediate enough to break out of the LGBT niche.
Check out the U.S. trailer for the upcoming Tom of Finland.
Synoposis:
Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual men around him, even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specializing in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work – made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.
The film has been extremely well received at film festivals all over the world (official selection at Tribeca International Film Festival and Outfest 2017) and is Finland’s official submission for 2018 Academy Awards.
Opens theatrically in NYC on October 13 and in LA/SF on October 20 with a national release to follow.
NewNowNext points up this quickie short film, The Weigh In, by the Perez brothers.
Dramatic music, hyper masculine imagery, muscles and skin – what more do you want in a one minute flick?
Hart and Devon Perez’s work spans a range of platforms from commercials to short films, appearing on ESPN and MTV to around the world at international film festivals.
Armie Hammer, who stars in the highly anticipated film Call Me By Your Name, slapped back at actor James Woods who dissed the gay romance flick on Twitter and in doing so connected the movie to a group who believes pedophilia should be legal.
The movie features Hammer as a 24-year old American academic who attracts the attention of a 17-year-old Jewish-American boy played by Timothee Chalamet. The flick was a darling at the Sundance Film Festival garnering Oscar buzz for both leading men.
Woods quoted a tweet criticizing the age gap between Hammer’s 24-year-old character and his 17-year-old love interest (played by Timothée Chalamet) and bemoaning the lack of decency.
“As they quietly chip away the last barriers of decency,” Woods tweeted, adding the hashtag for the North American Man/Boy Love Association.
Hammer didn’t miss a beat, calling out Woods for dating 19-year-old Ashley Madison when Woods was 59 for more than six years.
“Didn’t you date a 19 year old when you were 60…?”
I have to recommend the Norwegian short film, Shower, directed by Henry K. Norvalls.
After screening at prestigious film festivals around the world, the darkly erotic short is online in full for the first time.
Official description: A man enters the shower after working out, but is soon side tracked by an unidentified noise. He decides to seek out the source and enters a situation that leave him completely exposed.
Trust me, the film doesn’t end up where you think.
More and more, I’m drawn to short films. In part because I have a short attention span, and in part because I think young filmmakers are packing powerful messages into short films.
