Best love triangle movie ever! -- plus tips on three other films
"HIS SECRET LIFE" is a well directed, good story. You already know what it's about, so I will tell you that I liked the way the characters are portrayed. The people seem real and the theme isn't heavy-handed at all.
An all-around enjoyable movie, I wanted to call "His Secret Life" the best gay movie ever, but I already said that about "Come Undone". Also, this is broader than a gay movie by any comparison. (If you have any doubt, watch this and then see the sex scenes in "Come Undone" and you'll agree that "His Secret Life" is far more appealing to people who are not gay. Tell ya what, if you wanna lock yourself up with a couple great movies then that is the pair.
This very good film, "His Secret Life", is everything that another one I saw is not: "Steam: The Turkish Bath" is a very bad knockoff of "HSL". Rather than waste good time and money on that one, SEE "HIS SECRET LIFE" TWICE -- and also see the NEXT flick, below:
IF YOU LIKE "HSL", THEN YOU WILL L-O-V-E "Making Love", Starring Michael Ontkean, Harry Hamlin and Kate Jackson, 3 fine actors who put in some of their best work here. The music is also excellent, by that I mean the title song, "Making Love (There's more to love, than making love)". It reads just like 2005, though it was released in 1982. It oughtta be on DVD by now, but it's still VHS, and is available from Amazon.
Why are you still reading? Go watch the movie already. "His Secret Life" is everything it promises to be.
Ozpetek continues to ruin Italian cinema
I have now seen three films from this foreign-born bumbling director. His gaudy and not infrequently deranged attempts to somehow capture the contemporary Italian spirit which, having viewed this and his other major films, I am certain he knows next to nothing about, leave any devotee -and particularly any Italian national devotee- of Italian films feeling repulsed and egregiously misrepresented. Despite infrequent moments of dramatic tension that make the film just barely watchable, His Secret Life is little more than a glimpse at the lifestyles of several very disturbed people who are at once self-righteous in their irreverent behavior and self-loathing because they'd really rather be normal - but cannot according to Ozpetek's theme that they must not only be gay, but also gender-bending, promiscuous and obnoxiously flamboyant, to be themselves.
The Secret Find
His Secret Life, directed by Ferzan Ozpetek, tells the story of a Italian couple Massimo (Andrea Renzi) and Anotonia (Margherita Bay) who have been married for many 15 years and are deeply in love, then one day Massimo is struck and killed by a car. It is after the funeral that Anotnia tries to pull her life back together, and she finds evidence that perhaps Massimo has been having an affair, thus ensues the search for the woman. Her search leads her to Michele (Stefano Accorsi) and what ensues is a painful discovery that test the depth of human emotions from both actors.
Margherita Bay and Stefano Accorsi are beautiful and smart together, the acting is real and raw and the emotional conflict between the two characters captures the viewer and you feel their anguish, betrayal and sense of lost. Director Ferzan Ozpetek for his credit does not contrain the actors or the script and really does take the time to develop the conflict and resolution which adds to the greatness of this film----how well do we really know others and for that matter ourselves. The writing is clean, crisp, and refreshing from the normal drug--sleazy sex scene which seems obessesed in the gay film world. Simple put this movie is true treasure and one you should add to your film collection.
This is a story about an Italian man who goes to Istanbul to settle the estate of his deceased aunt. Though eager to sell off the property she has left him, when he discovers that the property is a hamam (Turkish bath), he becomes ambivalent about selling. His own perspectives on his life, Istanbul, the hamam, and the family with whom he is staying are highlighted by his aunt's words which we hear throughout the movie as he reads her returned letters.
Istanbul is somewhat romanticized, with old and new customs side by side, sometimes competing and other times in harmony. All in all, it's a lovely film in Italian with English subtitles. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Ferzan Ozpetek DVD Release Date: Released the 19 June 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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Despite a slow weird beginning I enjoyed this movie more than words can say. It was funny weird, thought pervoking and it left me feeling really good despite some real life situations that were not always happy. I could identify with the mormon dude since I know well his pain having come from a strict hardcore Bible Thumping BAPTIST family myself. Trust me "Baptist's" are no more accepting or tolerant of gays or gay friendly folk than the religious neanderthals seen in this movie.
Despite the religious homophobic downers this was my kind of movie it had a happy ending I could honestly beleive. This movie left me happy and filled with hope. The unrated version has the steamier sex scene but what you see is pretty tame by todays standards. I would not recommend this... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Steve Sandvoss - Wes Ramsey - Amber Benson - Jacqueline Bisset - Mary Kay Place Director(s): C. Jay Cox DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This could possibly be the cheesiest movie I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot of movies!) Do not waste your money on this low-budget, low-acting-ability, low-camera-experience movie. I enjoy a good "gay movie" every now and then and this was not it. Sorry to disappoint! More Info about this DVD Director(s): Michael D. Akers DVD Release Date: Released the 27 January 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A Love story about "What could have should have might have been" IF ONLY... is the basic premise of The Trip. The Trip follows two gay men through young adulthood into early middle age. One a fully realized gay young man living in truth to himself with honor without shame. This first young man was doing what he could as a gay activist from the 1970's onward to champion causes of gay rights, HIV awareness and diversity. The other gay man was a conflicted deeply closeted homosexual chap from one of those hellish super religious conservative homes where father rules with an iron fist and every aspect of waking life is lived daddy's straight arrow conservative way or no way.
On his own and away from his militaristic thought police father at home the young seemingly... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Miles Swain DVD Release Date: Released the 09 December 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Torrid sex and tortured emotions fill the screen in Leaving Metropolis. David (Troy Ruptash), a successful painter, has lost his inspiration. To find stimulation, he gets a job at a small, out-of-the-way diner, run by married couple Violet (Cherilee Taylor) and Matt (Vincent Corazza, Owning Mahoney). When sparks fly with Matt, David gets stimulation and inspiration--but the portraits he paints of Matt may break the couple apart. The machinations of a bitter friend bring the situation to a boil. Though filled with lots and lots of sex (both gay and straight), Leaving Metropolis pays as much attention to the character's minds as to their flesh (well, almost as much--the sex scenes are quite extensive and the bodies are all beautiful). Some of the script's... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Brad Fraser DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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