Orpheus' Song

This film looks that came from a horny teenager who is trying to reveal his true identity. Everything seems fake in this. I was painful to watch. It starts with a simple minds (band) quote. Simple minds! I rest my case.

If there was not enough money, why did they decide to write this in an exotic place? There was no need for that, no need for the "contest". This could easily have happened for more realistic reasons and more scenes could have been filmed tying everything up. There is no chemistry between the two actors and "their moment" is so cold. THe intricacies of it all, the fears, the logistics(!!!)... that would have been interesting to see them argue about, especially when they create a "macho" body-building character. Wouldn't this be a huge deal??? And let's not even talk about the "acting" of the girlfriend or the way Hercules can carry on a conversation in English when he said earlier he "barely" speaks it.

What is it with gay themed films and fruit ? The example of the peach in ' Call Me By Your Name ' set the example and here comes another film with a pomegranate that is the basis of male on male eroticism. For most of this semi-travelogue of a trip to Greece which could have been cut by at least ten minutes two would be gay lovers ' find ' their ' true ' orientation. They are two gym Narcissists who spend their time flexing their muscles and teasing each other while doing all this love's labours lost for women. I did not believe in this scenario except sadly for the gym part. I could have had if there had been a modicum of psychology in the film plus a real sense of chemistry between the two men. There is also a rolling about in the sands which made me laugh and a wrestling scene that made me almost want to stop watching. Put bluntly this is not a very good film, but it gets a 4 because of Orpheus ( called Hercules here ) who genuinely does tap on a sense of magic that unfortunately disappears too quickly. For gym buddies alone who believe they have minds and an appreciation of cinema beyond Hollywood tripe of the 21st Century.

Despite the plot involving two very good looking, very straight looking friends who end up having sex with each other (the recipe of 90% of gay coms) the actual development makes no sense. The actors can barely hide the improbability of what happens, the audience is left baffled by the lack of foretelling. The locations are beautiful though and really make you want to visit the island of Corfu'... just don't expect 2 gym bros making out on the beach.

Short and sweet, Orpheus' Song is an exercise in slowly building sexual tension. The chemistry between the two leads is intoxicating, and the scenery almost as gorgeous as Philipp (a luminous Sascha Weingarten).