Monday, October 06, 2008

What I'm Watching #165


anonymous
Originally uploaded by Randuwa
Is the second of the three Todd Verow films I recently acquired. "Anonymous" was made in 2004, nine years after "Frisk" (WIW #164 ~ 01 OCT 08). It stars Todd Verow (man on the cover), and tells the story of a severely depressed, sexual compulsive who works a dead end job, starts out with a dead end boy friend (who turns physically abusive before dumping him), and basically allows us to watch his every vestage of support and routine unravel. And the character's name just happens to be "Todd." Hmmm....needy, much?

The film is like a downer on downers, so don't watch it if you're on the southward slop of a manic-depressive week, 'cause there ain't enough lithium in the world of periodic elements to keep you safe.

Having said that, I suppose there is one interesting aspect to this film: the utterly raw intensity of the main character's psychological exposure to us. If you've seen gay porn you won't be shocked by anything in this film in that respect, but still I'll wager that you'll feel uncomfortable playing the voyeur at times. This thought has really made me wonder what it would be like to experience this film as part of an anonymous theater audience. And perhaps that's why it debued as the darling of Gay & Lesbian, Independent, and avant garde film festivals on 5 continents.

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