The new film from Steven Soderbergh is an interesting example of enjoying a
film’s content versus its context. In
and of itself, the film is a super-fun and glitzy spectacle looking into the
fabulous life of Liberace. Off screen,
the film is potentially a tragic symptom of a rigidly prejudiced and homophobic
America seemingly out of odds with the rest of the world. Soderbergh claims that the film was ‘too gay’
for the big studios so instead released it directly to HBO to screen on
television – others are resisting this accusation. Whether or not this is the case, it is clear
that Hollywood is still miles behind the reality of American opinion with only Milk and Brokeback Mountain having has any real success as ‘gay movies’. Behind
The Candelabra tells the real life story of Liberace, or Lee (Michael
Douglas), and his tumultuous relationship to the younger Scott Thorson (Matt
Damon).
The actions of the Hollywood studio
system (if true) are homophobic in the truest sense of the word: They were
literally scared of the image of gay men.
This film is an openly gay film from start to finish and doesn’t shy
away from images and dialogue about gay sex.
Regardless of what is to be made of Liberace’s more bizarre lifestyle choices,
it is a refreshing message that two men can love each other as any other
couple: complaining about each other
snoring, lounge around watching TV together, engaging in pillow talk about the
future… The representation of the more
mundane parts of their relationship was what made them feel most realistic.
Saying that however, one of the requests
that Lee asks Scott is that he should have plastic surgery in order to look
more like him. And later on in the
story, Lee offers to adopt Scott and give him a house so that he can live near
him in Las Vegas. The film is based on
the book written by the real Scott Thorson, which is interesting as even though
the relationship doesn’t end well, the film is sympathetic to Lee and depicts
his intentions as good (basically) even if they look bizarre from the outside.
Both Matt Damon and Michael Douglas give
amazing performances. Damon steals the
show in the scenes whilst freaking out on drugs, whilst Douglas gives a
performance like no other I have ever seen of him. I found it almost impossible not to smile
whenever he is onscreen. My favourite scene, which I have no reason to think isn't exactly what Liberace really believed, is a moment where Scott and Lee have just had sex and are 'pillow' talking about religion. Scott asks him how he can still be a devout Catholic and be actively gay and Lee tells him the story of how he became ill from playing to many shows around the time of the Nixon assassination. He was exhausted from playing too many shows and the material that his suits were made out of was reacting badly with his sweat so he collapsed and ended up in hospital. Here he had a vision of a nun that made him reaffirm his faith. This story is told with such tenderness and sincerity that I feel it explains a lot about American religiosity. (It seems crazy to me though...)
The costumes and locations in the film
are so outrageous that they deserve acting credits in themselves. Lee describes his house early on as ‘palatial
kitsch’ (which I love) and there are moments in the film where scenes begin
focused on the clothes before revealing the action. The costumes are simply amazing.
This film should be a call to Hollywood
that there is a market for films with gay relationships in, even if the
audience lies in the more accepting and progressive European market…
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