Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991) better known as gay artist Tom of Finland is the subject of this sexy documentary. His drawings have had a profound influence on gay identity. He alone masculinized homosexuality and basically invented the gay S & M and leather scenes. Life imitating art. Unfortunately, we learn in the film that these leather fetish scenes are derived from the Nazi occupation of Finland. That's what inspired Tom of Finland: fucking Nazis!
The erotic treatment of men in Nazi uniforms form only a small part of Tom's overall work, but the typically flattering visual treatment of these characters has led some to infer sympathy for Nazism, and they have been omitted from most recent anthologies of his work. Later in his career Tom disavowed this art and tried to disassociate himself and his work from fascist or racist ideologies.
Taking inspiration from his World War II army days, 1950s American bodybuilding magazines and biker movies, Tom's drawings of uniformed and leather-clad beefcake have become a permanent fixture of 20th century iconography. Tom expanded his pantheon of rugged physical types to include the sailor, biker, policeman, prison guard, lumberjack, and the labourer. Completed shortly before his death in 1991, this definitive documentary of the man and the artist combines interviews with Tom himself, some biography, commentary from his "leather men", hundreds of original drawings, and erotic video fantasy scenes inspired by his work.
Often called ”the master of pencil”, over the course of four decades he produced 3,500 drawings, mostly featuring men with exaggerated sex traits: heavily muscled torsos, limbs, and buttocks, with gigantic cocks. Tight or partially removed clothing showed off these features, with cocks often visible as enormous bulges in tight trousers or prominently displayed for the viewer. He chose to construct the gay male body as a square-jawed, scruffy and stubbled, hyper-masculine mass of bulging muscles with narrow waist and broad shoulders. His drawings frequently feature two or more men either immediately preceding or during explicit sexual activity.
We are treated to hundreds of vivid portraits of male models, ranging from "Drummer Daddies" to fellow artists. Tom's sketches and paintings are grouped by subject matter, with emphasis on various forms of fetishism. The film includes interviews with Tom, the artist's models, associates, intimates, and his leather men acolytes. For Lone Wolf it is interesting to hear Tom's deep gruff voice, and also to learn about his "photorealism" technique. He took photographs of models, then drew from the photos. That's how photorealism is accomplished.
Although his drawings are based on photographs, none are exact reproductions of them. The photographic inspiration is used to create lifelike images with convincing postures and gestures, but he exaggerates features and presents his ideal of masculine beauty by combining realism with fantasy. This is explained in some detail and includes examples of photographs and the drawings based upon them side by side.
Most of the interview is shot in Tom's studio, with the film arranged into segments focusing on themes of his art: depiction of black men and women, technique, use of models, and leather as his muse. "I put on a special outfit," he explains, "if I need to be inspired." By interviewing Isaac Julien who talks about Tom's appreciation of black men, this film tries to be racially diverse. Although his drawings of blacks are similar to racist caricatures of the "hypersexual" black male, these traits are shared by Tom's white characters as well. In one scene Tom is on stage at a huge gay leather convention in the USA and is treated as royalty or a god with a thunderous standing ovation.
This hour long Finnish arthouse documentary is a fascinating look at one of the major icons of the gay world. The New York Daily News called him, ”The Picasso of gay male erotica”. His leather "look" has declined among gay men since the mid-1980s, but continues as a major gay theme. There is a debate over his depiction of "supermen" characters with huge cocks and muscular physiques. Is it cheap and vulgar or is there a deeper complexity which plays with and subverts those stereotypes? I think his art is first-rate, original, and sexy! You will be moved by Tom's integrity and skill in realizing his fantasies with art. Tom is interviewed in Finnish, with English subtitles. Written and directed by Ilppo Pohjola.
