This evening I attended a screening of the movie Children of God. The show is part of the Vancouver Queer Film Fest. My reaction? Wow. Simply wow.
Cinemaphiles may disagree with me but I couldn’t help but think about Brokeback Mountain while I was watching Children of God. A Brokeback Mountain filmed in the Bahamas with the surprisingly intolerant Bahamian culture pervading everything. Perhaps I should issue a spoiler alert at this point, but WHY do love stories never work out in movies about gay men?
For me, the most memorable line from the movie was when the mother of a gay man said to him, “I wish your problem was as simple as a drug problem.” Imagine a mother wishing her son had a drug problem rather than facing up to his sexual orientation.
As I exited the theatre I tweeted; “Just out of Children of God. Breath-takingly beautiful and tragic yet happy in a mournful way. Emotionally confusing.” That about sums up Children of God. Beautiful.