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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2004)
¿2004 FILM C h r o n ic a l l y U n f e a s ib l e TLA Entertainment ergio Bianchi’s 2000 film Chronically U nfea sible, recently released on DVD, calls to mind the work of Bertolt Brecht, the radical and hugely influ ential 20th century playwright and poet who used (some would say misused) dramatic tools to alienate the audience in order to politically and aesthetically galvanize it. In true Brechtian style, Bianchi gives us (in lieu o f a linear plot) a series of fablelike vignettes. T he place is Brazil, the time is now, and, since the nation we’re shown is as exemplary a model of a defeatist, hypocritical Debt to society Bianchi does Brecht in a gritty little fable from Brazil class and social system as there ever was, the tone is sardonic. Bianchi excerpts indicative moments from the lives of our six would-be protagonists— a go-go bourgeois businessman and his philan thropic wife, a professor, a gay immigrant waiter from Poland, the manager of a chic restaurant and its owner— as an acute demon stration of that tried-but-true thing about the personal being political. Glimpses into Brazil’s male prostitution underground and a disastrous fling between the restaurant owner and the waiter is par ticularly provocative for the queer viewer. T he film has a broader, more didac tic style than most of Fassbinder (another post-Brechtian film maker), but Bianchi evidently shares Fassbinder’s view that sexual libera tion in a vacuum, disconnected from other forms of social justice, is half-there and easily exploitable. It’s a point executed with Sexual liberation disconnected from other forms of social justice is easily trenchant confi exploitable in C hronically U n feasible dence; what we see is recognizable and frightening. (In a way, this is also a horror film.) Chronically Unfeasible is quasi-documentary sociology as take-no-prisoners satire; it’s heart less yet honest, ugly yet spellbinding, unpleas ant yet ultimately empathetic. T he violence— of the emotional, economic and physical vari eties— is posed as a question to the audience, and it’s a question that clearly haunts the film maker himself. Bianchi’s intent is to rob us of any blissful ignorance or oversimplified views we may have, and he’s relentlessly successful. — Christopher M cQuam F r i e n d s & F a m il y W olfe Video Frier* is ¿¿Fam ily ï *:■ Ciü¡> ollywood is full df hybrid comedies, pair ing disparate subjects in search of laughs. “She’s a nun, he’s a punk rocker. * -r They’re detectives!’’ Now comes the latest in gay hybrid: the odd, sometimes amusing Friends & Family. Its premise? Cross The Sopranos with The Birdcage (or, for older read ers, The G odfather with La C age A ux Folles). Stephen (Greg Lauren of The Wedding Planner) and Danny (Christopher Gartin) are two erudite Manhattan lovers whose world seems to be picture perfect. To their “friends and family,” they’re successful caterers, but their big secret is that they’re really hit men for the Mafia. W hen Stephen’s parents come to the big city to celebrate FBI agent Dad’s birthday, the boys must scramble to set up an elaborate din ner party. But to keep their secret life a secret, they must train their goombah Mafia buddies to be fabulous. Cue the stereotypes-on-parade as middle-aged Italian wiseguys learn to prance, flit and flirt. As expected, complica tions create much chaos, including rival gang sters, drag queens, right-wing militia revolu tionaries and more. For a movie about hit men, Friends & Fam ily sidesteps most o f the moral questions about Mafioso killers-for-hire. Stephen and Danny are so perfect in their chiseled good looks and sweet home life that viewers aren’t supposed to question their illegal actions. Instead, the movie focuses on the wackiness of the current situation, and, while the comedy is solely of the “only in a movie, never in reality” variety, it’s effective most of the time. T he cast is filled with familiar B-listers you’ve seen time and again (especially the Mafia men who’ve made careers out of varia tions on the role), creating a comfort zone for the viewer. Joseph Triehwasser’s script is at times clever but relies too much on clichés; it also cribs so literally from L a C age that it could almost be a funhouse mirror remake. The direction by Kristen Coury (her debut) is barely professional, with the dinner party scenes especially poorly staged. W hich isn’t to say that Friends & Family isn’t worth watching. 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