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| The Delta
Year: 1997
Classification: Drama
Directed:
- Ira Sachs
Another example of gays being depicted as social misfits
A muddled and insulting film. Low budget doesn't have to have an influence on the script or how a film is directed. The problem with this film is certainly not its low production value. In a day and age where discussions are taking place in the top ranks of the US government about changing the constitution to officially discriminate against, gays, we certainly don't need people out of our own ranks creating pieces of entertainment, which show gays as purely dysfunctional human beings.
In The Delta, we have two very vague character studies: one of a 17 year old, upper middle-class kid who vacillates between seeming perfectly happy in his heterosexuality and going out to pick up guys. We never understand this character. There doesn't seem to be any conflict even though his situation screams out for it. Shayne Gray is charming, but that doesn't help a script, which was doomed before it was filmed. The other character is a bitter and confused Vietnamese/American/black man, who claims to search for love, but turns to a murderer, when the young man abandons him. We are left with his act of murder without ever understanding what drove him to it, or what really makes this person tick. After 95 minutes it simply ends and you are none the wiser why it was even written.
Verdict: it puts gay film-making back 25 to 30 years.
Provocative but incomplete
The film's twist on the Huckleberry Finn/American West motif is well-done and commendable. Similarly, the burgeoning relationship between the two young men is initially well-dramatized. However, Minh's character lacks development, and potential dramatic use of his disenfranchisemnt (half-black, half-Vietnamese, gay, poor) is unexplored. Minh's character arc lands him the only place he could end up: risking what little he has to avenge his abandonment. Yet we are left wondering the complete reasoning behind his decision, and, in fact, we do not know Minh's name until the movie is almost over. Without due psychological exploration of Minh, the movie's pace is jerky and the film left being somewhat cryptic, which would be to the film's credit if it seemed intentional.
The Delta ... Aka The Snooze
I would rather have a root canal than have to watch this "dog" again. I have ALL "gay" movies and this is the worst! Sorry!
Buy The Delta at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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