Bent

"I saw you by the river. You were making a fool of yourself, and I said, someday I'll be in Dachau with that man moving rocks." -Horst

Bent, a Holocaust film directed by Sean Mathias and written by Martin Sherman, is about Max (Clive Owen), a homosexual who is put into the concentration camps where he claims to be a Jew. He is forced to do horrible things by the Nazis in order to survive the trip to the concentration camp but, once there, meets Horst (Lothaire Bluteau). While hauling rocks from one end of a field to the other, they fall in love and Max becomes torn between his love for Horst and his desire to survive.

Thanks to this movie, I now know how much more explicit verbal sex between two men standing three feet apart and not looking at or touching each other can be than actually seeing the deed. This was probably the most exploitative scene in the film and seems to be added as a "crowd-pleasing" move. Aside from this and a few of the other more manipulative elements that are found in any movie about Nazis, it was an interesting take on the Holocaust and an overall touching film. The acting was excellent with Clive Owen in one of his early and non-action oriented roles that foretells his part in Closer. Lotharie Bluteau was perfect in his supporting role although I believe the rest of his career is sadly made up of appearances on Law and Order. Jude Law has a ten second role as a stormtrooper which was very amusing and Ian McKellen plays a small role as Max's discreetly gay uncle. However, the actor that takes the cake is Mick Jagger who has a cameo as Greta, a drag queen performer in a gay night club. What stripped the film of most of its potential sentimentality was the simplicity of the script, score, and desolate wide shots that conveys an feeling of resigned despair. The character development is strong and the ending poetic making Bent a strong film that explores an overlooked area of history with only the occasionally unnecessary scene. 3 1/2 stars.

FYI- This movie is rated NC-17, probably for the aforementioned scene. This would have been helpful to know before watching it...