The fifth installment in the successful series of gay-themed short films anthology collects four short films produced between 1990 and 2005. This collection avoids the alternating callow humor and dull self-seriousness of previous installments. Each feels like a first-rate mini-feature rather than a student experiment or a Hollywood audition.
In "Fishbelly White", directed by Michael Burke, alienated rural youth Duncan (Mickey Smith) mistreats farm animals and explores his homoeroticism with a hunky older boy (Jason Hayes), only to learn some harsh lessons about nonconformity. With its rural setting, offbeat protagonist, and less-is-more approach to both dialogue and sexual tension, this entry could hardly be confused for a typical gay indie. It features subtle insights into adolescence and sensuality. Burke uses "Fishbelly White" as the basis for his feature "The Mudge Boy".
"Dare" was written by David Brind and directed by Adam Salky. Hunky high-school star Johnny (Michael Cassidy) has the lead in the school play "A Streetcar Named Desire" but is having trouble remembering his lines. Nerdy "Light boy" Ben (Adam Fleming) likes to look at the very popular boy, and to spotlight him on stage. The irritated female lead of the play refuses to give her co-star a ride home, and "Light boy" volunteers. Once there, champagne gets opened poolside and both boys are soon in the pool, and the daring occurs. The final shot is deliciously sly. "Dare" offers the most explicitly gay subject matter of the collection, yet it shares with the other films a tension between childhood innocence and erotic awakening.
In "Late Summer", written and directed by David Ottenhouse, photographer Adam (Augustus Kelly) recounts the genesis of one of his photographs, in the process revealing much about his adolescent self (Erol Zeybekoglu). It begins in an art gallery with a photo show of Adam's work and proceeds to a lengthy flashback leading to an image not for sale. The photo shows the photographer's older cousin Josh (Christopher Nee) with whose family the photographer stayed after his parents' deaths. The younger Adam is hero-worshipping and shy, but not a pushover. The cousin goes skinny dipping, and he doesn't keep his shorts on as the boys in "Dare" do. Josh appears totally naked in the swimming home scene. But the film is restrained, with its gayness a matter of sensibility and subtext rather than overt content. This short is a rare example of a flashback story whose framing sequences actually add to its emotional heft, providing an intriguing suburban contrast to the farmland lyricism of "Fishbelly White".
"Time Off" was directed by American-born Israeli Eytan Fox. A soldier receives some unexpected insights into the private life of his dictatorial lieutenant. The "Time Off" of the title is between the end of basic training and deployment to Lebanon during the First Lebanon War in 1982. We see a lieutenant (Gil Frank) putting his men through annoying exercises. He seems to be picking on a pleasant-natured sensitive recruit named Yonatan (Hanoch Reim). On leave in the city, Yonatan wanders into a known gay pick-up spot and guess what? It was shot in Hebrew a decade before any of the other films. With its military setting and political backdrop, "Time Off" engages with the real world rather than just its characters' inner lives. Yet its subtlety and ambiguity fit in perfectly. Fox would go on to explore similar themes with the full-length "Yossi & Jagger".
The fifth and most consistently rewarding entry in the "Boys" Life series of anthologies focuses on the inner contradictions and unspoken longings of their protagonists. These four films collectively explore issues such as unrequited love and allow the "Boys Life" series to grow up. The bittersweet featurettes offer homosexual men a chance to identify with non-archetypal characters instead of drag-queen confidants or suicidal closet cases.
