This 25-minute film – included in the "Wonders In The Dark" poll of the "All-Time Top 3000 Movies" and released on PAL VHS and R2 DVD by the BFI – is highly-touted in gay circles
but therein lies its problem! It has absolutely no value outside of that fact: even if the director is a renowned French author, there is no dialogue throughout – just surprisingly explicit posturing and, well, the promotion of a 'decadent' agenda that, set within the confines of a correctional facility, insultingly suggests that everyone concerned (both prisoners and wardens) indulge in this 'alternate' form of passion! Suffice to say that, while they did not try to hide their particular inclination in their films, neither did the likes of Jean Cocteau (who reportedly shot this uncredited!), F.W. Murnau and James Whale make it the sole purpose of their oeuvre – resulting in limited appeal that can only be described, at best, as narcissistic and, at worst, alienating!
Anyway, the principal liaison comprises a young and a middle-aged convict (both extremely hirsute!), who are detained in adjacent cells: they make flowery gifts to one another through the windows and, intimately share puffs of smoke passed via a straw through a crack in the walls! Eventually, a dream-like atmosphere takes over: naked groping between the inmates, an attempted rape by one of the guardians, and even a countryside idyll between the central couple. For the record, I own three other as-yet unwatched adaptations of Genet's work: THE BALCONY (1963), THE MAIDS (1975) and QUERELLE (1982). By the way, one of the many versions available of this one on "You Tube" – which, oddly, does not require the viewer to log in beforehand (in view of the explicit content involved)! – is accompanied by an Audio Commentary, which I chose to listen to in an attempt to fathom what everyone sees in the film to begin with
Anyway, the principal liaison comprises a young and a middle-aged convict (both extremely hirsute!), who are detained in adjacent cells: they make flowery gifts to one another through the windows and, intimately share puffs of smoke passed via a straw through a crack in the walls! Eventually, a dream-like atmosphere takes over: naked groping between the inmates, an attempted rape by one of the guardians, and even a countryside idyll between the central couple. For the record, I own three other as-yet unwatched adaptations of Genet's work: THE BALCONY (1963), THE MAIDS (1975) and QUERELLE (1982). By the way, one of the many versions available of this one on "You Tube" – which, oddly, does not require the viewer to log in beforehand (in view of the explicit content involved)! – is accompanied by an Audio Commentary, which I chose to listen to in an attempt to fathom what everyone sees in the film to begin with