Bobolink Reviews

Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013)

Beautifully danced jewel of a film

[9/10 · 16 March 2015]

Just saw this short at Amsterdam's 18th LGBT Film Festival - Roze Filmdagen 2015 - and was impressed by the filming of a beautifully danced duo and trio. This is a visual pearl, using slow motion to great advantage, of beautiful bodies presenting us with an opportunity to be touched by our perceptions and expectations. The androgynous dancer presses our buttons: what we see won't be necessarily what we get.

"Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder." - Joseph cardinal RATzinger aka pope benedict xvi

Bubot Niyar (2006)

Through different eyes

[9/10 · 2 November 2006]

Paper Dolls was the opening film of the 2006 Jewish Film Festival in Amsterdam and was received with great enthusiasm. The story is of a group of Filipino migrant workers - rejected for being gay and transgender in their homeland - imported into Israel to care for elderly Jewish men and women, whose families could or would not care for them. The stark contrast between the old religious rabbi and his effeminate Filipino caretaker is just one of the many unlikely images that remain in your memory after seeing this film.

Important as well is the subject of migrant workers, usually coming from developing countries to fulfil a role in developed countries that no one else seems to want to fulfil. Be it caretakers of the elderly or factory workers or garbage collectors, the developing countries seem to think they can import and export people at will, without recognizing our common humanity, needs and skills.

The short but poignant everyday scenes where the elderly are being nursed or cared for will strike a chord of recognition in anyone who has ever cared for a sick or infirm friend or relative. The unlikely friendships that develop with the elderly are set off by the drag shows that the Filipino performers give on their day off. Director and four of the cast members were present and the Paper Dolls danced and sang for us in Hebrew and English, all dolled up and giving their utmost.

Kudos to all those involved in this most sensitive look at Israeli society through different eyes. It is a must see for any of us who have ever felt like outcasts in any society.

WTC View (2005)

Tears and laughter

[10/10 · 12 June 2005]

After viewing dozens of features and shorts at 2005's Newfest in New York City, 12 festival days climaxed for me at the screening of WTC View. The story of a gay man living 12 blocks from Ground Zero placing an ad in the Village Voice for a roommate to share his Soho apartment on Sept. 10, 2005, his respondents' and his reactions during the next few weeks plucked a string in this ex-New Yorker's soul that is still resonating as I write this.

Just like that fateful day of November 22, 1963, hardly any of us will forget what we were doing and where we were when we heard of 9/11. I was sitting with a now-deceased friend of mine in my Amsterdam canal house apartment when the phone rang not long after 3 pm Central European Time and a Dutch friend of mine told me to turn on CNN to see something incredible. And indeed, from 3000 miles away the shock and panic pierced me to the core. To relive a group of New Yorkers' own narratives and reactions was both purifying and heart-rending.

The individual stories of the characters in WTC View, each a personal and personalized vignette of how their lives had been changed on that fateful morning, death and survival intertwined, the New Yorker's coping strategy confronted by 'you can run but you can no longer hide', healthy reactions to sick jokes, all make this a film no one should miss.

Kudos especially for director Brian Sloan and actors Michael Urie and Nick Potenzieri as well as the rest of the players who had me laughing and crying from beginning to end.

Blue (1993)

Blue is Emptiness

[9/10 · 26 August 2004]

Blue is here emptiness, emptiness is blue; blue is no other than emptiness, emptiness is no other than blue; that which is blue is emptiness, that which is emptiness is blue. The same can be said of red, orange, yellow, green, indigo and violet.

All things here are characterized with emptiness: they are not born, they are not annihilated; they are not tainted, they are not immaculate; they do not increase, they do not decrease. Therefore, in emptiness there is no blue, no red, no orange, no yellow, no green, no indigo, no violet; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; no form; no film, sound, color, taste, touch, objects, no element of vision, till we come to no element of consciousness; there is no knowledge, no ignorance, till we come to there is no old age and death, no extinction of old age and death; there is no suffering, no accumulation, no annihilation, no path; there is no knowledge, no attainment, no realization, because there is no attainment.

Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House (2002)

Up Front Documentary

[10/10 · 19 July 2002]

I saw this movie at the NYC Gay & Lesbian Film Fest and was honored to meet Ruth & Connie as well. They wonderfully combine Yiddishkeit with up-front lesbianism, compassion and humor. Highly recommended whatever your race, religion or sexual orientation.

AKA (2002)

Body and Soul

[9/10 · 19 July 2002]

Saw this film at the NYC Gay & Lesbian Film Fest & found it one of the better-directed films presenting the universal theme of the lead character's search for love and acceptance. The triple screen reminded me of some of Andy Warhol's old movies. Eighteen-year-old Dean thinks he can escape his working-class and abusive background by assuming another identity and repressing his roots rather than dealing with them. How many of you have tried that and succeeded?

You don't have to be a professional prostitute to sell your body and soul. In fact, with a little good faith and a lot of honesty you might even be able to buy them back :-).

Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale (2000)

Moved my heart and spirit

[10/10 · 8 December 2000]

I saw this film at Amsterdam's International Documentary Film Festival and was privileged to meet both the directors and Tobias Schneebaum, all of whom are lively and outspoken New Yorkers. The film's title in Amsterdam was Keep the River on Your Right, making the sensational aspect of cannibalism somewhat less prominent. Equally important was the loving - and gay - relationship Tobias Schneebaum had with members of the groups he studied as an anthropologist. His reunion at nearly 80 years of age and inevitable leave-taking were very moving. I can only highly recommend this film to anyone looking for a moving story that is anything but pedestrian.