Die, Mommie, Die (2003)
Take what Todd Haynes did for Sirkian
melodrama with "Far From Heaven," add a generous dollop
of campy humor, throw in a drag queen in full effect
and you've got "Die, Mommie, Die." That recipe seems
the obvious choice for drag artist Charles Busch who
just a couple of years ago harkened back to the late
50's and early 60's "Beach" movies and "Gidget" films
with the hilarious lampoon "Psycho Beach Party." Busch
amps up his campy brand of humor here to spoof 50's
melodrama, like those fabulous soft-focus films of
Douglas Sirk, and in doing so creates a hilarious
and delightful comedy that harkens back to those kitschy
classics with as much warmth as mockery.
Busch, looking like a crazy cross
between Jane Wyman, Eve Arden and, well, a drag queen,
plays the aptly named Angela Arden, a former pop singer
whose marriage and career are on the rocks, as are
her afternoon cocktails. Angela is trapped in a loveless
marriage to Sol (Phillip Baker Hall) so she turns
to her frisky young paramour, Tony, played with perfect
Tab Hunter-esque smoldering sexiness by Jason Preistly.
Meanwhile, Angela must also contend with a daddy's
girl daughter (Natasha Lyonne) and a pot-head gay
son.
Now, I've seen a lot of films and
I've seen a lot of cute boys in films. And I've seen
a lot of cute boys play gay characters in films. But
no one has ever been as stunning and as adorable as
Stark Sands as the son, Lance, is here. Imagine if
Michelangelo lived on Venice Beach in the 70's and
got to sculpt a living demigod for the next YMAC video
and you've got an idea of just how irresistible Stark
Sands is. This boy is more than hot, he is incendiary.
Never mind the fact the he can act with as much fake
melodrama and hilarious camp as anyone this side of
Hollywood Boulevard, Sands is a pin-up boy come to
life, a real life boy whose every image will make
you shiver in appreciation. Watching him at work in
this film is like watching a golden sunset on a cool
spring day. He is jaw-dropping gorgeous. He is Adonis
incarnate. And he gets to play a great gay character!
That's just fucking awesome!
I would have thought that John Waters'
hilarious and perverse "Polyester" would have rendered
a film like "Die, Mommie, Die" repetitious and obsolete.
After all, when it was made in 1981, Waters made no
secret that his film was also a homage of Sirk. And
while Busch is certainly no Divine, their massive
differences only aid in making this film it's own
unique entry into the sub- sub-genre of campy tribute
films. Here Busch essays the underappreciated suburban
women of all those 50's films not with bombast and
unglamorous whimpering of Divine but rather the strength
and hyper-glamour of a modern day drag queen. Busch's
model is much more a homage to the sort of woman that
permeated films of that era than the parody that Divine
offered up. To be sure, both caricatures have their
own unique, inherent joys, but Busch's version is
softer, more subtle and more ambitious in representation
(while also somehow being more fierce and more stoic).
Whereas Divine was like the bad train-wreck aftereffects
of a acid trip gone horribly wrong, Busch is no less
unappealing than a glass of moderately priced champagne.
Busch is truly in his element here
and he owns the movie. Its nice to see him at play
with Sands, their mother and son love reflecting a
gay sensibility and evoking the sort of strength 50's
suburban melodrama heroines often embodied. By reflecting
a modern mother's acceptance of her son's homosexuality,
yet crammed into a 50's timeframe, Busch's Arden reminds
us of just how wonderful those glamourous women were
and what we, as gay men, found so attractive in them
as well. And with Priestly in tow as a bisexual pretty
boy who beds mother, daughter and son, well... this
is a film that truly does have it all!
Pack up a pick-up truck with all
your campy gay friends, scoot on over to your local
arthouse and catch "Die, Mommie, Die" when it comes
to your town. Even with all the melodrama, double-crosses,
hidden secrets and evil motivations at play, this
film is nothing but pure unadulterated fun! Sands
even gets naked in the film and, like Busch's humorous
smirking, it is a spectacular cinematic moment that
will only leave you wanting more!
Notes:
Also with Frances Conroy and Nora
Dunn. (Yahoo's internet guru Greg Dean Schwartz of
Greg's Previews fame listed Sara Gilbert in the film
but I don't believe she was in the version I saw).
Directed by Mark Rucker, a stage
director who makes his film debut here. Screenplay
by Busch based on his stage play (which oddly had
the title spelled "Mommy"). Produced by Anthony Edward's
production company.
Busch won a "Special Jury Prize"
for "Outstanding Dramatic Performance" when the film
premiered at Sundance 2003. Sundance Films also picked
up the film for distribution and it will begin a limited
run in the US on 10/31/2003.
Viewed at Agliff 2003 - Last Day,
9/1, Monday, Labor Day
Notes on Agliff - Day 12
The last day of Agliff is always
one of mixed feelings. Just like any other film festival,
there is the thought of finally finishing several
days of intensive film viewing and that is somewhat
of a relief. I don't care how much you love films,
12 days of watching 1 to 3 films a day followed by
hours of writing can grate on your nerves after a
while. A rush of relief is certainly in evidence.
At the same time, good festivals are always fun and
exciting. And a gay film festival has the added bonus
of adorable gay guys in attendance, making one comfortable
and happy because of the climate of acceptance and
tolerance.
There is a difference in how I act
when in the gay world and in the straight world, of
course, and sometimes it is nice to be around other
gay guys where you can be more at ease and more relaxed.
And let's face it, cruising guys in my second favorite
hobby of all (right after movies) so gay film festivals
are like the double whammy of fun!
I went into the theater to see this,
the Closing Night Film and sat with John. Craig was
at a Labor Day Bar-B-Que and was supposed to come
see a film at 9pm. I saw my friend Jett and said hello.
He had been at Splash and had a great time.
Sandra Martinez, Agliff's Executive
Director, got up and said a few words. She thanked
Avis and Tanqueray and the other sponsors. She introduced
a guy who worked for Capitol Credit Union and he said
a few words. He was very friendly and even though,
as a sponsored speaker, his rhetoric was like advertisement,
it was still nice to hear someone who was gay-friendly
ask for your patronage and invite you to come to their
business.
Sandra introduced Bobette and she
introduced the board. This was done very quickly and
didn't evoke the usual "get on with it" feeling of
Closing Nights past. Scott was kind of hoarse, finally
losing his voice after 12 days of public speaking,
networking and partying. He didn't say much.
After the film, I was going to see
some shorts and Johnny had a ticket to "Hooked," a
documentary about internet usage among gays, presumably
primarily with a focus on sex. I checked my messages
and both Christian and Craig had called! Two messages
from two hotties! Who's the man?!?!?
Craig said he still had people over
and wouldn't be coming to a movie after all but wanted
to call and say hello and mentioned that we should
get together sometime and see a movie or something,
which was awesome. Christian asked me if I had seen
"Thirteen" yet and if I wanted to go see it with him.
I was feeling pretty happy about getting these two
messages!
I watched one of the final showings,
a group of shorts called "Boy Next Door." There were
a lot of technical problems at the start of the program
including misframes on the film portion that didn't
get fixed quickly enough and also the video camera
was still on during the film for a bit causing a superimposed
effect that was a super-imposition! I guess it is
expecting a lot of a volunteer staff who have been
busting their butt for 12 days to get the last showing
on screen with no problems. They were probably as
tired as I was. (Most of the shorts were good. Check
out my review of the Agliff Shorts).
After the showings, Johnny and I
went to Mojo's under the pretense that he could read
and I could write. I took my laptop and wrote about
four paragraphs. With UT back in session for the fall
semester, Mojo's was simply packed with adorable young
men and we spent most of our time chatting and cruising
instead of reading and writing.
It's good to be gay!
Cinematexas is coming in September
and Todd Haynes will be in town, so we may have some
coverage of that. Then the Austin Film Festival is
coming up in October. So stay in the loop! Join the
Whipping Post to keep updated on all that is going
on with the site!
Lodger2003 @ Agliff 2003
