Gay Celluloid on The Visitor

›› The Visitor - Cibrâil ‹‹

a film by Tor Iben.

2011 | 69 mins | Germany.

a strikingly vivid account of one man's journey of homosexual awakening.

Dave says:

Heavy in hand-held camera work and frequently intercut with picture postcard views of Berlin, including numerous shots of the noted 100-foot "Molecule Man" sculpture by US artist Jonathan Borofsky, the result whilst somewhat rough around the edges, is nevertheless a strikingly vivid account of one man's journey of homosexual awakening.

For here, cue the life of Cibrâil (Sinan Hancili); a young policeman living happily with his girlfriend Christine (Martina Hesse). Well integrated in society despite his Turkish background, everything appears to be perfect in his life. Yet something is causing the young policeman sleepless nights, long suppressed feelings that are set to surface upon the arrival of Christine's sexy male cousin Marco (Engin Sert), as the officer of the law finds himself forced to face the laws of sexual attraction.

In short and whilst at heart a tale of sexual discovery, this is also a poignant love story, with Marco having clearly stirred Cibrâil's heart in more directions, than one. No surprise then that here we find Iben flying the rainbow coloured flag with outright pride, having laced his work with seemingly endless scenes of same-sex lip-service, to insert footage, albeit all too brief, of Berlin Pride in all of its fabulous festival glory. Yet this is also a film that takes time out to illustrate the two-edged sword that is cruising; from its sexual highs to the deadly low of park side activities.

Sure, there's a number of negatives in the mix, the limited budget of the piece painting a picture that is minimalist to say the least, with one too many sequences having been shot way too dark for my liking. That said, this is equally a film that beautifully showcases the raw emotions of sexual awakening, with Iben having wonderfully juxtaposed Cibrâil's heterosexual façade, with a man who whilst not declaring his rainbow calling card upon his arrival in Cibrâil's life, does however not hold back from sampling the many manly delights of the city by night. And whilst at the sixty-nine minute mark, this work is on the short side of cinematic life, thankfully it's not padded out to the detriment of the story, even if the ending may feel a little too neat and tidy for some. Say no more.

›› available as part of the TLA Releasing catalogue.

›› check out the Official Trailer on YouTube.

›› revised: Thursday, 13th May, 2021.

Gay Visibility - overt.
Nudity - the full monty.
Overall - file under ... 3 stars.

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archive reference #2013031 - revised.

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