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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2003)
39 FILM .........^ ......... Summer camp Chalk two up for drag queens of color johns, screaming divas and such exciting activi ties as trick rip- off schemes and deadly assaults. Rio’s bohemi an slum is the ideal backdrop for Joao’s heady life, captured in high- point vignettes from his early ’30s career. Scenes dis play every aspect of an iconic per sonality—a bnital encounter with Lázaro Ramos is the rather unforgettable Madame Sata an exploitative boss, Joao’s pimping of Tahx> to a supposed M adame S ata straight guy whom they gleefully rip off and musi Aug. 15 to 21, Cinema 21 cal interludes involving feathers and fans and leopards. oao Francisco dos Santos (1900-1976) is O f course, success comes and goes, even for the subject of this lively, episodic, if not such talented queens, and “Saint Rita’s” temper altogether successful biopic. For those who don’t follow the adventures of gets the best of her when a dnink starts harass ing her with epithets increasingly nastier and famous Brazilian drag queens who kill and sing, more vicious. Joao— later dubbed “Madame Sata” in tribute Madame Sard’s ambiance has a strikingly rich to Cecil B. DeMille’s campy 1930 movie look, with a sort of squalid glamour throughout, M adame Satan — was one of those Renaissance and Joao’s story is seductive indeed, both as per queens who could do it all: one minute in sonal biography and as a history of the ascen feathers warbling Piaf-like dirges, the next using dance of Afro-Brazilian slum scxriety into visi Bruce Lee kicks to take down a hx:al tough. bility as apotheosized by the elaborate costume African-black, commandingly tall, fearless, and timeless celebrations of Camivale. charismatic and dishy, Joao (Lázaro Ramos) Also on the plus side are sizzling encounters heads up an outlaw commune in Rio’s red-light between Joao and the gorgeous Renatinho. district composed of quasi-wife and whore Lauri- The camera, happily, doesn’t flinch from these ta, simple-minded drag number Tabtxi and in decently handsome young boyfriend Renatinho, sweaty tongue swaps and skin rubs, letting the characters’ lust fill the frame. whom Joao alternately romances and assaults. On the downside, Ramos’ portrayal of Joao, Exotic window dressing is provided by the admirably energetic in much of the film, is final dark streets of Lapa— an ideal shooting loca ly almost too vigorous, veering into caricature. tion for a neo-noir— and the tacky theatrical Literally a drama queen, the character makes milieu of a club teeming with prostitutes, J John Schlesinger's queer film legacy by A C hristopher M c Q uain fter suffering a debilitating stroke in late 2000 and experiencing a recent deteriora tion in health, respected and beloved gay film director John Schlesinger died July 26 at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, Calif. He is survived by photographer Michael Childers, his partner of 30 years. Schlesinger was bom into an upper-middle- class family in London. After a brief career as a stage and film actor and a stint directing for the British Broadcasting Corp. in the 1950s, he made his first feature, A Kind of Loving, which was released in 1962 and, along with his fol low-up, 1% 3’s endearing Billy Liar, became a classic of England’s wave of “kitchen sink” movies dealing affectionately with the grim day-to-day struggles of working-class Brits. The director instigated Julie Christie’s stardom by casting her as the lead in 1965 s Darling, a per formance for which she won an Academy Award. Schlesinger himself received kudos from Oscar when 1 » was named Best Director for 1969’s Mid night Cowboy (also that year’s Best Picture). A self-consciously modem work, Midnight Cowboy was sexually graphic and included straightforward depictions of homosexuality, then a novelty for a Hollywood production. Schlesinger’s next film, 1971’s Sunday Bloody Sunday, expanded on Cowboy’s boldness by depicting a love tri angle in which the amorous attentions of a young man are shared between a (male) doctor and a (female) divorcée. The director never replicated this string of successes. His 1976 thriller Marathon Man and 1995 comedy Cold Gay filmmaker John Comfort Farm were Schlesinger died July 26 well received, but 1975’$ The Day of the Locust and the 2000 Madonna vehicle The Next Best Thing, which was to be his last film, were reviled. Although Schlesinger, who appeared as an interviewee in The Celluloid Closet in 1995, made no effort to conceal his homosexuality, he did not publicly acknowledge it until 1991 when he came to the defense of the controver sial knighting o f Sir Ian McKellen. in 1970, Schlesinger said of his work: “I’m only interested in one thing—that is tolerance.... It’s important to get people to care a little for someone else. That’s why I’m more interested in the futures of this world than the successes." JPÏ hay of every event, and all that screaming and hitting and carry-on becomes wearisome. To the film’s credit, it allows for multiple interpretations of the character. Jo§o is heroic, for instance, in his defense of his disreputable friends and his own over-the-top lifestyle. But his stri dency and abusiveness bring him perilously close to being just another cartoonish Evil Queen. — Gary Morris Specialties C amp 1 Apple C in nam on French Io n a ▼ F in i Hrrakfhst Sandwich ▼ / t i r i n ' & H am Reuben Fox Tower Cinemas Gay owned & operated A ctor and screenwriter T xkl Graff’s directori al debut, Camp, begins beautifully with intercuts of four teen-agers: a suburban white kid practicing his tough act in front of his bednxim minor, a gorgeous African American girl singing her heart out onstage, a sister beg ging her brother to pretend to be her date to the prom and a Hispanic kid getting the crap kicked out of him for going to his own prom in drag. It’s effective and touching and why, you will ask yourself while sitting through the rest of this confusing mess, couldn’t the entire film have been the same? It’s a premise with promise: Graff, who hits been a more successful actor (The Abyss, Strange Days) than writer (The Preacher's Wife, Coyote Ugly), takes his own teen experiences at summer camp and pens them as Fame for a new genera- 8 om to 3 pm doily o our Comer. Breakfast anytime • lunch from IOam 503 236 9486 * 1728 SI 7 lh Ave 2 blocks youth oi Hawthorne p in » Bring in this ad for $2 E x p ir e s » 1 0 4 3 5 5 2 N . M ississip p i A v e - 5 0 3 2 « « 3 2 3 1 roffee espresso coopérât ion 4001 n m is s is s ip p i L 3729 s e ha wt born e P O f f 3 III ! I J >J Jill vegetarian. All (he lime. T HE I U I R P L E P A R L O R 35 ft) N Mississippi (at Fremont) P 9 I) 730a-230p Tue-Fn, 8a-3p Sat-Sun 503-281-3560 wwwpurpleparlor.com • miMimppi avrnut caf» Michael and Ellen struggle with liking the same boy in Camp tion— complete with the kind of boys you know are crowding into musical theater camp. To wit: some satisfying zingers such as “An honest-tcvGcxl straight boy!” and the one from the cynical counselor trying to steer a camper from her fate: “Teen-age fag hags become adult fag hags.” It should have all been, like these imply, a hilarious queer-glam look at the joys and foibles of growing up gifted, but Graff lays on the schmaltz so thick, he drowns us in heart warming anecdotes and tired clichés before the curtain’s half up. Plot devices and characteriza tions are so uneven, you begin to wonder toward the end if these are the same characters you’ve been watching for an hour and a half. Even a cameo by Stephen Sondheim is awkward, with the musical theater veteran sim ply looking nervous and out of place. All this is unfortunare for a scattering of tal ented young actors, particularly Robin De Jesus as the sympathetic queer Michael, who quietly carries the movie along with cute teen-age pos ing and sensitive dignity. Also on the upside is what you get outside the various predictable storylines. The shows that participants of Camp Ovation must crank out every two weeks are a rousing tribute to musical theater. The teens embrace the generally adult roles with a fresh glee and robust attitude that remind you why you like live musicals so much— and wish you were at one right now instead of watching these kids plod through a bad script. Camp has a soundtrack, of course, which is wonderful and gives you much more for your money. — Lisa Bradshaw JT1 C o n v e r tin g P o r tla n d O n e C u p A t A T im e ! 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