The Circle (Der Kreis)

Der Kreis (The Circle) is a Swiss docu-drama revolves around the life-long romantic partnership of two men, Ernst Ostertag and Robi Rapp, who together published a homosexual publication entitled The Circle during the 1940s and 50s in Zurich, Switzerland and which was scapegoated as the cause of the murders of several gay men in the city during that time.

The film has Matthias Hungerbühler and Sven Schelker portray Ostertag and Rapp respectively in the depiction of 1950s Zurich, whilst the film intersperses documentary interviews with the real life pair in the present day. From the outset we encounter Ostertag, a young English literature teacher in an all-girls school, attempting to teach Albert Camus' The Outsider and the idea getting shot down by his superiors. Rapp is a drag artist who meets Ostertag and so begins their life-long union entwined with the publication of the magazine which in a post-Nazi era still rubs people up the wrong way.

The film is tensely directed by Stefan Haupt who also wrote the dramatic screenplay, which has helped garner the official Switzerland entry for Best Foreign Language Film in the 87th Academy Awards next year. Helped by brave and appealing performances from both leads, whilst the present date documentary footage rightly lets the Ostertag/Rapp elders tell their story themselves today.

The Circle is released from on December 12th and is released by Matchbox Films.

Weekend (Andrew Haigh, UK, 2010)

Renowned editor of Gladiator, Haigh breaks out with his feature debut that tells the romantic coupling of a young gay couple in surburban Nottingham, Russell (Tom Cullen) is a little bit down at a friend's party and having said he would go home stops in a gay bar on the way home hoping to boost his esteem, there he indulges in a one-night stand with Glen (Chris New), a would be artist who is extremely more self-confident than the less introverted Russell.

Russell wakes up and makes coffee, and in a clever bit of editing and directing, we do not know if it is Glen (the guy he had his eye on) or the unfortunate hobbit we last saw Russell talking to whilst Glen watched. From there, Russell and Glen start talking about life, work, the size of each other's penis. Russell leaves for his work as a lifeguard, Glen meets him after his shift finishes and they talk some more. Glen asks if Russell is out to his parents, from this we learn that Russell is an orphan, and that the friends he was with at the start of the film is Jamie his life-long friend who is supportive of his lifestyle.

They then engage in some lovemaking on the sofa, Glen invites Russell to a party that evening - a bon voyage party as Glen is leaving for Oregon to study conceptual art. The inevitability of his leaving and the time constraints thrust upon the characters by the film's title means that the constriction of time allows a full blossoming of the relationship to take hold of you.

Unlike other gay films, the film does not over-do the explicitness of the film's overt sexuality, here you have two men coming to terms with their sexuality and the difficulty after having come out; at times you forget that it is two gay men talking but instead two people conversing about the difficulty of their relationship and feelings. This is a credit to the openness of the performances by the two leads Cullen and New, who embue a sense of naturalism into the roles, Cullen all full of guilt and confusion, whilst New handles the extrovert Glen well, never making him over-the-top when he could easily have been in your face.

Russell is the more romantic of the two, and yet this never becomes oversentimental even when they have their 'Notting Hill' moment at the end when the full exploration of the relationship reaches its crescendo.

Haigh's use of the tower block as a character is also important using some great landscape shots of the city at nighttime, and the naturalistic feel of the film flows fluidly throughout in pace with the freedom of the performances that elevate another boy-meets-boy film to the echelon of worthwhile movie in its own right.  There are some lovely shots such as when the camera is fixed on the pair whilst they talk on the tram on the way home on Saturday night, the camera holds and lets the two hold our attention whilst the tram is moving - that is a great element of faith and trust in the two leading men for a small film and from a first-time helmer such as Haigh.
 

Hopefully this film finds a far wider ranging audience, one that it deserves and needs to see it for all its worth.

The film is distributed by Peccadillo Pictures and is to be released in the UK on 4th November 2011.

www.weekend-film.com
http://www.peccapics.com/