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Bent (1997)

Bent (1997)

The groundbreaking historical queer play makes the jump to the screen in this decent adaptation

7.0

Movie

United Kingdom
English
Drama, History, Romance
1997
SEAN MATHIAS
Brian Webber, Clive Owen, Crispian Belfrage
105 min

TLDR

I can't believe this happened a century ago. I hope it never happens again.

What it's about

Berlin, 1930s. After being caught fleeing with his boyfriend, Max, a gay Jewish man, is sent to a concentration camp under the Nazi regime.

The take

In this day and age, it thankfully has become less risky to come out as gay, due to the struggle of many LGBTQ+ people from the past. However, this struggle was hard won– while gay people were persecuted in the Nazi regime, it was only until decades later people started to discuss it, and one reason why research and education about it increased was due to the play Bent, depicted in film in 1997. The screen version admittedly falters compared to the West End original, with static staging and focus on the dialogue over action, but the performances are fairly decent, with an unexpected collection of cast members that maximize each moment they’re in. It’s quite depressing, and sometimes heavy handed, but Bent is a needed perspective.

What stands out

Bent isn’t a terrible adaptation, but one of the reasons the film version falters is because of the way the staging was recreated on screen, as it feels a bit, well, stagey.

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