gay first love for those whose words, don't come easy
As sweet and tender as they come, this delightfully laid-back piece from Sweden tells the tale of a teenager’s first gay crush.
Only in this instance it all revolves around karaoke, with karaoke King and Queen, Kjelle and Barbro ever keen on staging a show for their caravan style campers, regardless of whether they want it or not. Not that Kjelle's shy son Olle relishes the sound of an instrumental backing track, preferring to fix the stage lights, rather than be under the spotlight himself. Only this time around something is different. For could it be that the arrival of Kevin, Barbro's cute nephew, has inspired Olle to perform a song from the heart?
From the director who gave us the ever so dark story of Nights In Love, comes this touching tale of boys in love. Only these boys are hardly out to themselves, let alone to each other, with Tobias Bengtsson as Olle perfectly displaying the emotions of an introverted youth who wants to express his heartfelt desires to the new boy about camp, but whose words, don't come easy.
For here, writer and director Håkon Liu has injected many a telling sign into his work, not least of which is a title that refers to a pet canary queer and scared of people, but equally reflects the feelings of the two young men; queer and scared of people knowing their true sexuality. That Liu delights in the scenario, sees Tom Lofterud as Kevin going as hot and cold on Olle as a faulty boiler, much to the furore of Britta Andersson who as worldly wise Barbro, knows just what's going on between the boys.
In short, it is emotions that speak volumes here, rather than words, in a mini-feature that perfectly captures the tentative steps that two young men take on the gay path of life. And whilst the story is a simple one, it is beautifully shot and told, with the raw passion of gay first love handled in an uplifting way. Need more be said?
available on DVD as part of the Peccadillo Pictures catalogue - 'Boys on Film 2: In Too Deep' release
starring: Tobias Bengtsson, Tom Lofterud, Britta Andersson, Johan Friberg, Michaela Berner
As sweet and tender as they come, this delightfully laid-back piece from Sweden tells the tale of a teenager’s first gay crush.
For here, writer and director Håkon Liu has injected many a telling sign into his work, not least of which is a title that refers to a pet canary queer and scared of people, but equally reflects the feelings of the two young men; queer and scared of people knowing their true sexuality. That Liu delights in the scenario, sees Tom Lofterud as Kevin going as hot and cold on Olle as a faulty boiler, much to the furore of Britta Andersson who as worldly wise Barbro, knows just what's going on between the boys.
