VICTIM - Out Takes 2003 Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

	AUCKLAND <Previous Next> Wed 28 May, 8.30pm at Village Queen St	WELLINGTON <Previous Next> Fri 30 May, 8.30pm at Paramount Theatre

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	Dir: Basil Dearden, UK, 1961, 35mm, 100 mins M
	A landmark film in the queer canon, this exceptional thriller was highly controversial in its day and was instrumental in changing the existing British law that made being homosexual a criminal act. Dirk Bogarde stars as married gay barrister Melville Farr who risks his reputation by confronting a ring of blackmailers extorting money from closeted queers. They are responsible for the death of his former lover (Peter McEnery). As the blackmailers turn their attention to Farr himself, he must decide whether to expose them and ruin his career (and possibly his marriage) in the process, or continue to pay extortion 'for a kind of security' that he knows will keep the whole rotten system going. Bogarde's portrayal of the increasingly beleaguered barrister is not only a knockout performance in itself but represented a major shift for the actor, who took the role after it was turned down by most of Britain's major stars because it was too controversial. Sylvia Syms provides solid support as his equally stressed wife. It's a tribute to all involved that the film (reputedly the first in Britain to use the word 'homosexual') retains its punch today, despite the disappearance of 'homosexual blackmail' (mostly) and the reform of anti-gay laws that followed in Britain. "While we were filming, we were treated as though we were attacking the Bible … yet it was the first film in which a man said 'I love you' to another man. I wrote that scene in. I said to them, 'Either we make a film about queers or we don't.'" - Dirk Bogarde Courtesy of Carlton International Marketing Ltd SUPPORTED BY

	AUCKLAND <Previous Next> Wed 28 May, 8.30pm at Village Queen St	WELLINGTON <Previous Next> Fri 30 May, 8.30pm at Paramount Theatre


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