Showing posts with label Derek Jarman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Derek Jarman. Show all posts

Monday, 4 November 2013

Sebastiane (1976) - ★★★★

Director: Paul Humfress, Derek Jarman
Writers: Paul Humfress, Derek Jarman
Stars: Leonardo Treviglio, Barney James, Neil Kennedy

Sebastiane submersed me in a piece of history that is seldom explored. Set in an Italian desert outpost in 303AD, we view the lives of a group of soldiers that are isolated from the world. With no women, no real form of entertainment, and all the time in the world, they become very close and engage in homo-erotic acts. In the heart of the story is Sebastiane, a Christian man who has a strange sadomasochistic relationship with the captain of the group. While it all seems like “sex sex sex!” I found it to be much more than that. It’s an entertaining, enlightening, and entirely believable period drama that revolves around the world of homosexuals, bisexuals, and sexually frustrated straight men. Matthew Lotti of Cinematic Threads called it "More or less a Playgirl calendar with a period theme." I could not disagree with him more.