House of Boys (2009) Reviews

• Discovering Love - the good, the bad, and the ugly

  gradyharp2012-04-14

  Some viewers, unfortunately, will pass on this film as the cover of the DVD makes it appear to be a gay sexploitation waste of time. It is anything but that. Written and directed by Jean- Claude Schlim (with assistance from Christian Thiry and Robert David Graham) this is one of the finest films about the early days of the AIDS pandemic and long with 'Longtime Companion' is probably one of the more important films for the public to understand the inception of the disease that still hovers darkly over the globe. The cast is rich in talent and the method of unfolding the story is superb. In opening credits we see an apparent carefree young lad running through sunlit cornfields - perhaps reference the path to Oz: where that goes is revealed at the end of the film. It is 1984 and a gay high school lad Frank (Layke Anderson) escapes his rigid parents by moving to Amsterdam where he lands a job as a bar boy in a gay dance club, the House of Boys run by a man referred to as Madame (Ugo Kier) who keeps everyone in tow as well as performing in drag on stage. Frank is assigned a room with a straight boy Jake 9Benn Northover) who is the club's most popular dancer and who makes considerable money participating in passive physical gratification for the gentlemen who frequent the club. Jake has a girlfriend who sneaks in through the window of their room at night for trysts with Jake: Frank must then move in with transgender Angelo (Steven Webb) and raunchy mohawked dancer Herman (Oliver Hoare) for the night. Frank is talented and wants to leave his job at the bar where he assists the gentle lovely Emma (Eleanor David) and become a dancer. In the meantime Frank has fallen in love with the unattainable straight Jake but the two become close friends. Jake has been saving his money as a dancer and as an escort to run away with his girlfriend, but when his savings go missing he realizes his girlfriend has taken the money to abort Jake's baby. Jake is decimated by this but at the same time he leans on Frank for succor. The two boys realize their friendship has turned to being lovers. Jake introduces Frank to his way with clients and in the process falls through a glass tabletop sustaining cuts the require sutures. Frank takes Jake to the hospital where they encounter Dr. Marsh (Stephen Fry) who ultimately discovers that Jake has no T cells - and the mystery and cruel head of AIDS arises. Jake is fired form the club by Madame who fears for the reputation of this new plague and Frank and Jake move in together, compliments of Emma. From this point Jake has obvious Kaposi's sarcoma and the rest of the film is how Frank and the friends of the club are supportive. The unique aspect of the story is that it is the straight boy receiving passive sex from clients is the one who becomes infected. The beginning of the film is repeated with the full story at the end. This story could have easily been melodrama but the manner in which the story is handled and the fine acting on the part of the actors involved allows it to rise into the realm of very significant films. It copes with tragedy but it also emphasizes the honest meaning of love in all forms. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

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• A sweet, sad film

  ryanjchild2011-03-07

  I liked this film a lot. Admittedly there were some questionable parts, but overall this film does what it sets out to; reel you in with many bare torsos and shove reality in your face with a hard knock, amid a love story that ultimately has you caring about it by the end. Layke Anderson is wonderful in this. I haven't seen him in anything else, but he's fantastic as the rebellious party-boy who finds his own heart. It's a shame he finds it with Benn Northover (whom I haven't seen in anything else either), who pales in comparison to pretty much every other performer in this film. He seems an odd choice next to Anderson, and his character is lost among the other, more colourful ones. Udo Kier and Stephen Webb are good for the laughs, which are few, but effective. House of Boys pulls no punches in depicting disease and the effects it can cause; this may be unsettling for some, but you'll be glad you sat through it. It's not life-changing, but see it for Anderson's performance, and Udo Kier in drag. Obviously.

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• Clichéd but moving

  vauxtc2011-04-01

  Just saw this today and have mixed feelings about it. On the plus side there were some decent performances from the three male leads Layke, Benn and Steven as well as Eleanor David. But for me there were too many directorial clichés in terms of characterisation script and cinematography: blue skies, white screens, schmaltzy music. I just felt as I often do when watching gay movies that I wish there could be some real originality in a script. Yes all the types depicted here do and did exist amongst gay men and certainly the era was well portrayed: a free for all time when cheap sex was taken for granted without any consequences. But the only time in the movie where I felt really touched by a striking use of sound and image was when we heard Jake's dying death rattle in his breathing counterpointed with scenes of his sleeping friends there for him in the hospital. I do however have to defend the film from some of the charges in other reviews posted here. Porno scenes? Hardly. The film was set in Luxembourg and this was clear; why Amsterdam? because that was where his friends were going. It also was one of the few places at the time where male brothels existed. And it was pretty clear to me why Frank went there: to get away from hostility in college and at home. I also liked the flashbacks which served to explain why a straight boy like Jake would end up working in a place like that getting used in the same way his father abused him, this time though for money. I also thought the graphic effects of the disease and in particular Karposi's sarcoma were rightly quite full on. I doubt if anyone in the cinema where I saw it, at a Gay film festival, hasn't known someone who's suffered from this dreadful disease. The silence through the last section of the film spoke volumes. I found the drag really bad but it was authentic that bad drag often gets applauded so uncritically as in the House of Boys. Nice to see Udo Kier again, a legend from some of the work of the more controversial directors from the German cinema of the 70s..but does Stephen Fry ever turn anything down? I guess he took part as his name may have helped get funding and I guess also that he believes rightly that these films with this message are needed, they are. I just find it's impossible to get away from him in the media. Overall it's worth seeing this film and for me it got better as it went on.

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• Well worth watching unless you're homophobic

  dat272009-12-03

  I saw this nice little movie in Luxembourg one week or so after it's premier here. Basically it's a story of two teenage boys who leave home for different reasons and meet up within a Gay show club in Amsterdam. After falling in love, one ends up sick with AIDS. Stephen Fry plays a sympathetic doctor but basically helpless with the knowledge of the disease back in the 80s. All the cast act great. I was impressed. Apart from a few short porno scenes, it is a neat little gay drama with some nice music and film direction. There are also some scenes filmed in Luxembourg and Morocco. If the movie doesn't come to your town, buy it on DVD when released!

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• powerful drama revolving around very lovable characters

  imdb-21-511162011-04-06

  "House of Boys" was the peak of the London Lesbian Gay Film Festival in April 2011. "House of Boys" stood in contrast to the usual assortment of dry documentaries and silly fluff films. I lost count of how many of the characters seem like real people -- stereotypes or not -- i know and love. It was like being with friends. So much so, that when drama ensues, you want to be there for your friends. I can't remember the last time i saw actors get into their parts so well. I won't give away any plot here: for this film, more than any other, please avoid reviews and trailers that give away plot. Let it develop for you after you get to know these boys, exactly the way Jean-Claude Schlim intends it. Btw, after reading the script, several of actors begged for a part, any part, in this particular film. When you see it, you will know why.

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