a short film by Kristian Pithie 2003 | 11 mins | Australia ›› Oranges two teenagers sample their first kiss, gay style As refreshing as a ripe orange on a hot summer day, here writer and director Kristian Pithie has triumphed in delivering a delectable tale of adolescent sexual awakening. For this Australian short tells the story of a shy young lad who riding home from school one day accidentally crashes his bike and so doing, finds himself recovering from the incident in the nearby home of a slightly older student from the same school. Strangers to each other, they soon strike up a friendship, as the more mature of the two boasts of his experiences with the opposite sex; be it the number of girls he's kissed or of having three girlfriends on the go at the same time. But are such tales the truth or just a means for these two teenagers to sample their first kiss, gay style? With a simple meaning in the title, coupled with natural performances from the leads, this delightful piece charts the familiar you've never been kissed scenario, with scenes of lip-service being its focal point. Only here and unlike many a work of this nature, Pithie opts not to end with the save the gay kiss till last frame, having continued so as to showcase the reactions of the two young men when in the light of the next day, both see each other from across the school ground. Told with genuine sense of warmth and sincerity, this gentle tale is guaranteed to please in an ever so tender way. Simply charming. screened as part of the 19th London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2005 starring: Martin Sharpe / Younger Boy, Thomas Blackburne / Older Boy, Robyn Nethercote / Sister, Virginia Ryan and Drew Trail as the Kissing Couple and Renee Willner and Brad Flynn as the Soapie Couple Copyright 2005 David Hall - www.gaycelluloid.com. archive reference #071 ›› previous page | back to top | print me ‹‹