Rented this on Amazon last night and watched it, and again this morning. This is a different kind of “gay film”, with a lot more substance beyond just the “am I straight or am I gay?” theme.
Set in Ramallah & Tel Aviv, it’s a love story but also a thriller that kept my attention & interest to the very end. And let me just say if you had to choose to be gay in a German police force or in Ramallah, take Gregor Limpinski from Free Fall every time. The people shown here, even their own families, do not fuck around about feelings, and "born this way".
It got excellent reviews across the board, it's at 7.6 on IMDb. I cried at this one more than once, it's very emotional, and you don't know what's going to happen. I definitely think it's worth a look. Language: Hebrew, Arabic w/English subtitles.
I like Tim Isaac’s movie reviews, so this is his take on Out In the Dark, from the Big Gay Picture Show.com. I'll post the trailer and pics if I can.
When I’m reviewing gay-themed films, I sometimes feel I’m using the word ‘forgive’ too much. With many of these films you can see there’s a lot that’s good about them, but you have to forgive the acting, the low-budget (and resulting picture or sound issues), the shaky direction or slightly unfinished script. It’s always great then when you find a gay-themed film that’s just a good movie, and Out In The Dark certainly fits in that category.
Nimr (Nicholas Jacob) is a young Palestinian student who illegally sneaks out of Ramallah to go to a gay club in Tel Aviv. There he meets Jewish lawyer Roy (Michael Aloni). The two have a spark, but with Nimr coming from the other side of the Israeli-Palestinian divide, he’s not sure whether they should have any sort of relationship. However they eventually begin to see one another, helped by the fact Nimr gets a pass allowing him to legally enter Tel Aviv to go to university.
While Nimr and Roy fall deeply in love, the world around them is determined to make things difficult. Nimr’s family is deeply homophobic and so he has to hide this side of himself, especially from his older brother, who has become involved with violent Palestinian militants. Quite how dangerous this is comes home to Nimr when the Israeli security forces deport a gay man living in Tel Aviv back to Ramallah. The man is almost immediately rounded up and killed by the Palestinian militants, both for being a possible collaborator and for being gay (which get mixed up together as being gay immediately make someone vulnerable to being blackmailed into collaboration so their secret isn’t revealed to their family).
It’s not just tough on the Palestinian side, as Roy’s parents are ambivalent about their son dating an Arab, while the security forces begin to see Nimr as somebody they can use, irrespective of the fact the young man just wants to study and be with Roy. As increasing pressure is heaped on Nimr from both sides of the divide, it’s not just his relationship with Roy that comes under threat, but his life.
Out In The Dark handles itself extremely well, creating a wonderful sense of romance and intimacy between Roy and Nimr, which ensures you’re pulled into in their romance. It sets up a scenario where neither of them really cares about the other’s background, sometimes to the point of naiveté, even if everyone around them cares an awful lot.Review continues at this link
http://www.biggaypictureshow.com/bgps/2013/10/dark-dvd/
