LGBT films are more in quantity and better in quality during the last few years, with Asia paving the way in a number of ways. However, I do not think that any of the films has been as daring, both in cinematic approach and its presentation of the particular theme, than Whammy Alcazaren's “Bold Eagle”, a 20-minutes short that has already had a successful festival run around the world, and will screen in Sundance in 2024.
Bold Eagle is screening at Qcinema
A man is sitting naked by the door of his cramped apartment, while a talking cat appears and disappears around him. Soon he starts licking himself and crawling on the floor, just a like a cat himself. A POV sequence seems to mirror the gaze of the cat, while the next scene has the man lying on his bed, with his naked back side (including his genitalia) in full view. Zoom-ins in various locations in the room highlight gay porn magazines, the picture of Jesus, the cat, a rooter, and a collection of stamps. A knock on the door breaks the routine, but the protagonist does not seem particularly eager to open, in a story that seems to be taking place during lockdown. A sequence that looks like an absurd advertisement comes next, again focusing on gay porn, political news, and trips to the US, while playing with the whole concept of censorship. In the meantime, it becomes evident that the protagonist is a sex worker.
Although the effort to shock through absurdness and the occasional crudity of the images (for a movie, not for a porn) is evident, the actual purpose of Alcazaren seems to be something completely different, as we watch the film turning a number of concepts on their head, including the closing credits, where this approach actually becomes literal. In that fashion, the American Dream of going or even travelling to the US and being like an American, as exhibited in the ads depicted in the film and the posters on the wall is one of the central ones here, but definitely not the only. The concept of the web, and the pragmatic, continuing joke that its purpose is actually to serve ads, porn and videos of cats is also presented, while Alcazaren also plays with the whole concept of censorship, and by extension, of political correctness. As a whole, the comment here seems to refer on the despair the combination of the penetration of the web and capitalism has brought to people, but the truth is, that whatever the message is, it is quite difficult to discern among the audiovisual cornucopia here.
The whole movie frequently looks as something between an absurd advertisement itself, with Carlo Francisco Manatad's editing being the main medium of this approach, through the sudden cuts and the overall frantic pace. Peter Aragon's bright red and yellow coloring also adds to this sense, while Tristan Salas's cinematography captures both the nudity and the rest of the visual aspects in a no-punches-pulled approach, in perfect resonance with the overall aesthetics here.
Not sure what the eagle stands for here, but the film is definitely bold, with this, and the overall audiovisual presentation being enough for “Bold Eagle” to deserve a watch, as a truly original short.
