APRIL 4, 2008 juStiQW. s?
Spring DVD Forecast
Loving Annabelle is hot stuff; April's Shower is all wet
by Gary Morris
ariety called this film a “guilty pleasure,” but they only
got it half right. Writer/director Katharine Brooks’ debut
feature (after making several shorts and a lot of reality
shows) is one of the best—not to mention hottest—les­
bian dramas in recent memory. This one has a twist, too:
Set in a Catholic high school, it hinges on an illicit, in fact illegal,
relationship between a 32-year-old teacher, Simone (Diane Gaud-
• ry), and her 17-year-old student, Annabelle (Erin Kelly).
At first glance, Loving Annabelle has the look of a Lifetime Televi­
sion “message movie,” with threats of boilerplate soap opera pacing,
predictable characters and lots of hand-wringing. But Brooks turns
this template on its
head, thanks in part
"Guilty pleasure."
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to realistic dialogue
and the fine, nu-
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lovingannabelle
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a Buddhist who smokes and plays guitar and
was sent to Catholic school by her senator
mother as a kind of last-ditch effort before the
horrors of military school. Annabelle makes
no bones about her attraction to Simone, to
the latter’s initial dismay, and much of the film is a cat-and-mouse
game between them as Annabelle tries to act on her feelings and to
help Simone reclaim hers.
Loving Annabelle, inspired by the pioneering 1931 German les­
bian feature Madchen in Uniform, fascinates on a lot of levels. The
scenes of bitchy repartee, head games and occasional violent out­
bursts among Annabelle and her roommates have an unmistakable
realism. The film builds the relationship of Annabelle and Simone
with meticulous care, with Simone’s struggles—against what she
knows intellectually is a doomed affair—beautifully counterpointed
by Annabelle’s unflagging strategies for winning her Over. Also
anced performances
she elicits all around,
but particularly from
the two leads.
resonant here is the generational contrast, with Simone represent­
ing an earlier, more repressed generation and Annabelle the fresh,
cocky, unabashed embrace of her dykedom. The seduction and sex
Simone is a sensi­
tive English teacher
scenes are powerful indeed, more proof of the excellent acting by
Kelly and Gaudry, both straight.
still traumatized by
the suicide of her
lover Amanda some
years back. She’s in
The DVD is loaded with extras and well worth the purchase.
Some viewers were let down by the ending; among other things, the
a relationship with a
man but only going
through the motions.
Enter
Annabelle:
DVD contains an alternative ending that at least brings some hope
into the lives of these women we get to know so well.
ess successful is the lesbian-inflected farce April's Shower. (I’ll
resist the temptation to call it April’s Golden Shower.) Farce is
a delicate form that requires charismatic (if somewhat cartoony)
L
characters, sizzling dialogue and new plot twists every
two or three minutes. April’s Shower manages the plot
twists, but that’s more a function of having way too
many characters to keep track than of any real inven­
tiveness on the part of the filmmakers.
Trish Doolan wrote, directed and stars as Alex, who’s hosting a
bridal shower for her best friend, April (Maria Cina), who’s going to
marry a guy named Pauly. The guest list ends up including just about
everybody in town, including several firemen and a pizza delivery
guy. But Alex has a secret: She and April are ex-lovers, and each *
might still be carrying a torch for the other. Complications expected
and unexpected occur as each person’s backstory emerges, amid an
onslaught of second-rate dish. Example: The obligatory queeny best
friend, Jake, says, “She looks like the Chef Boyar-Don’t!” Or how
about, “Rocco...that’s Italian, right?”
Doolan gets some points for sincerity, and some of the acting
pops out of all the forced zaniness and endlessly contrived character
revelations. She and Cina both have their moments, but they’re
gasping for air in a sea of stereotypes. These include a Scottish
stalker in plaid pants, a therapist who spends all her time dishing
everybody and trying to drum up business, a country bumpkin cous­
in in pigtails—well, you get the picture. The idea that characters
like Alex and April could keep their five 'year lesbian relationship a
secret, when they blab every other intimate detail of their lives to
their vast social scene of family and friends, doesn’t seem remotely
credible. ©
G ary M orris edits and publishes Bright Lights Film Journal, located
online at www.brightlightsfilm.com.
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