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August

The moment the producer of this film introduced this film is a full length feature version of the short 'Postmortem', I was super excited because I had no idea. That had been one of my most favorite shorts and for some reason had stuck with me. I was super excited to watch a feature version and when I saw that 2 of the principal characters were retained from the short, it was all the more better, The actors just suited the part so well in the short that I would have hated to see someone else play those parts. I would strongly recommend the short also to people to watch it. 

Jonathan and Raul are a very happy couple of few years. They practically live together though Jonathan still has his apartment. Raul is married to Jonathan's best friend so that once the immigration goes through, they can have Raul stay in the country so that they both can live happily. Enter Troy from Spain who is planning to move back to LA. Troy and Jonathan were ex-lovers and apparently Troy broke Jonathan's heart and left for SPain. It took a long time for Jonathan to get over him. Troy is trouble and naughty. We can see that all he wants is Jonathan back. Jonathan is also not completely over Troy and they have a sexual tension between them. They meet for coffee after Troy comes back but something takes Jonathan back to Troy's house and after initial reluctance on their second meeting, they end up sleeping. Raul suspects something but doesn't say much. He expects a mature man like Jonathan should know what he is doing. This goes on for a while. Jonathan doesn't really know whom he really wants, Troy trying to get back to Jonathan and Raul's dilemma when he knows and pretends to ignore what is going on. Finally on Jonathan's 30th birthday, Raul encourages the 3 of them to get in a 3way because they are drunk and stoned but Raul knows exactly what he is doing. He wants to see the extent of their passion. This incident outs some sense in Troy's head. He decides to move back to Spain leaving the 2 men to deal with each other on their own. 

The director and editor of the film have very excellently used time jumps and creatively edited the film. The scenes going between past and future add a different feel to the film. We have all seen many love triangle gay movies but this one is handled very differently. Raul's character is the most complicated because he is going through various emotions to decide what o do with jonathan, try to make him understand. He had to speak a lot with his eyes and I must say he did an excellent job. Jonathan and Troy acted very very well too. here is something about Jonathan that makes him very charismatic, at least for me. The film shows how at various points in our life we always keep looking for true love, have to make some very tough decisions to get through the phases in our life and how compassion and passion can make us stop looking at things in a more logical way. Special mention to the background music. It was mostly middle eastern which for some reason fitted so well with the theme and the mood of the film. It was excellent. I wish I could get my hands on the music of the film. I really really loved this film. It is hard to describe in words but the way some of Jonathan's actions are showed are interesting because he thinks what he is doing is ok but from Raul's point of view, he is trying to show that he still has a thing for Troy and as we all know that Troy is trouble. 

I strongly recommend this film. An excellent example of how direction and editing can do wonders to a film. I so wish our US based directors who make all kinds of bad film in the name of gay cinema can learn something from this. (8.5/10)

Comments

I watched this film today and I considered very good also. I am now trying to watch the short filme. Very good your reviews, congrats
Golu said…
I am glad you liked my reviews. The short film is good but it is exactly same as first 15 minutes of the film. You will still enjoy it, I am sure
Correz said…
Saw this film tonight at Mardi Gras Queer Screen Sydney. Why is it that so many gay independent films like August are just so glacially tedious? Somewhere about 40 minutes from the ending someone must have said to the director: "You have 10 mins of content and 40 minutes to go. Stretch It!" And boy was the last half plodding & all to no good effect. Honestly first time directors should enlist someone who ISN'T a mate to critique and/or preferably edit their movies. I saw this with 4 friends who all see a lot of gay cinema and we agreed that "August" - like the heat it attempted to infer - was just plain stupefying.
Golu said…
Are you serious? Wow!! This is like totally opposite of what I felt but hey I have always believed that all of us are individuals and have very varied tastes, so I respect your opinion as much as I value my own.
Cheers !
Elementstv said…
I agree with Correz 100% percent! The film was tedious, boring with no real drama in it. I also felt that the soundtrack of the film didn't have any revelance to the scenes or the plot of the film, just random music that the director liked. All in all I wouldn't recommend this to someone unless they wanted a shallow movie to make fun of!
Golu said…
hahahaha
I think I am in minority when it comes to this film. But seriously, I really really did like the film and its original short film version too.
But thats the fun of it when I get to hear comments and views from everyone.
Unknown said…
We just watched this on NetFlix and it is boring as anything. Sometimes the director lingers over scenarios for no reason - like the belly dancer at the restaurant - then there's the supposed South American with no accent, no character development (though I know that stasis was part of the plan) which is as exciting as watching paint dry. This was almost two hours of a still life. Poor acting, poor writing, poor directing.
Golu said…
Oh No! yet again one more person not liking it… lol
C'mmon guys.. tree must be someone out there, who thought it was as good as I thought it was :)
DavidT said…
I watched this film on Netflix. I loved the film. I even watched it back ward scene by scene to get some of the detail. Maybe I connect because I lived this story in the seventies when I was a young man. It seems very true. What do you think happened at the end? What does the suitcase me in the last shot?
DavidT said…
by the way, your review is the best of those I read to date. Keep up the good work.
Golu said…
thank you David. I was starting to get crazy thinking maybe I m the only one who liked this film. Honestly I can't recall the exact scene about suitcase that you are talking about, otherwise would have loved to give you my thoughts.
I really appreciate your kind words on my blog. Please help spreading awareness about it.
Unknown said…
Wow, I'm very late to the party but I will give my 2 cents on this. We just finished watching August on NETFLIX and we really enjoyed it so Golu, we are with ya! 😉 We are still curious as to what happens in the end too, just like David... there was a suitcase in the end and I'm sure there was a meaning behind it. This really left us hangin and trust me, I do have an imagination... lol it just wonders too much!
Golu said…
Yay!! one more person who liked the film.... Thanks man. And don't worry about your imaginations wandering.. Mine always go on the naughtier side :)
Unknown said…
This film is good, but I hate the way that Raul left J to try or get chances with T. My emotional feeling after this one is so complicated and I always confuse that if both Raul and Jona can live happily like they did before T back ?!?.....
Golu said…
And thats exactly what makes this film even more interesting :)
Unknown said…
The suitcase was towards the end of the film I was also contemplating the meaning of it too! Is he leaving Jonathan? Maybe he started liking Troy? Highly doubt that one.. I honestly hope Troy turned around and be with Jonathan once and for all. I think you could rual he felt that connection between them as well. Thoughts?
Unknown said…
Could tell Raul felt that bond between them”” and knew he couldn’t be with Jonathan anymore knowing how much they long for each other still. Troy and Jonathan can make a future together soulmates per say””
Golu said…
I agree with your last statement. Raul felt the bond but couldn't do anything about it. Sometimes love is about letting your love go. ;)

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