O Beautiful

I have had the privilege of reviewing, for an independent blog, more than 120 coming of age, boyhood, and gay-themed short films using six independent criteria. Of those, O Beautiful and Funfsechstel stand at the very top—each because of its extraordinary acting, directing, and production.

You will not find a more compelling job of acting anywhere. The shock and fear that Jay Gillespie pours into the role of Brad (his very first acting role) and the remorse and frustration that David Clayton Rogers brings to his portrayal of Andy (only his second role) are simply incredible. The split-screen used in this film, a technique that has ruined many a movie, could not be more perfect. It allows you to experience each boy's reaction as he interacts with the other on an intense emotional plane. How it was done without 30 takes for each scene, I know not. It couldn't have been easy to get both actors to react so perfectly, so simultaneously, so often. But maybe they're just that good. They sure seem to be.

The movie represents a masterpiece of direction. Alan Brown even used the temperature to his filming advantage. Gillespie starts out completely naked below the waist and wearing only a light shirt as the film opens on a night so cold that the breath of both boys is visible throughout the film. The cold undoubtedly augmented Gillespie's portrayal of a boy in shock following a homophobic attack. Brown's eerie use of truck headlights in a post-harvest corn field gives the entire production a haunting, Halloween-like atmosphere that was further enhanced by even eerier primary theme music that features a person whistling.

Don't be put off by criticism of the dialogue. High school students (being portrayed here) are not always as astute as movie reviewers, and awkward comments—especially those made in the context of a remorseful teen trying to make amends with a peer whom he brutalized—would be expected in real life, I think.

Filming took place at the eastern end of a cornfield, at 40°52'13.03"N 74°30'28.75"W, just below the fence-line of a soccer field across from the New Hope Community Church in Denville, New Jersey. Despite the town's location in a fairly populated area of the state, a perfectly secluded spot was found for filming. With darkness and only one filming location involved, though, the movie could not rely on spectacular scenery or action sequences to compensate for even momentarily inadequate acting. And it didn't need to. I never thought it possible for a film of this quality to rest so completely on the acting ability of two such inexperienced actors and on so little else...well, little else except for superb direction and production.

You won't tire of this film after multiple viewings. Without a single change, this short film would make a worthy inclusion in a first-run feature-length movie.

The acting in this film was wonderful. I didn't really care for the split screen choice of the director. I thought the performance would have been even stronger with traditional editing. But that aside, this is still a really wonderful movie with a great story.

Its surprising freshness is the lead virtue of this short film, reminding a play. two characters. and the inspired dialogue. almost a Christian film, reflecting two perspectives and a relation between teenagers, vulnerabilities, hate and compassion, innocence and not comfortable answers. and the way to give yourself to the other. its lead virtue - to propose a real reflection. about a delicate subject. and about attitude front to it. a film. maybe, profound useful. sad, bitter, complex and too simple in same measure.

I watched this in 2 parts on YouTube's queerflix and came right away to IMDb, excitedly hoping to learn more.

First, if you've watched numerous crappy commercial gay movies that people excuse for being low budget (or for a pandering full frontal), seeing this short film gives lie to the idea that low-budget is ever any excuse for crap or that an exposed willy is the ultimate measure of cinema.

Second, investing your thought and imagination into appreciating anything will return those gifts, just as political dogma and snide cynicism will return only that.

>>What some saw as a non-Grammy performance of O Beautiful, I heard as an attempt to block out the anxiety of awkward regret and shame. Or, like his speaking Spanish, it might just be Andy's way of trying to establish trust. Whatever, isn't it better to think than scoff?

>>What some misunderstood as pica, I felt as eating dirt to scrub a bad taste out of his mouth. Or maybe Jay was anticipating an earlier degradation to forfend what he feared was a return attack.

>>What some derided as an extra-legal transfer of property, I took for naive adolescent impulse aimed at making amends with abject sincerity.

>>What some saw as seduction I know as the suspension of responsibility afforded by playing at hypnosis. See also, "boy, was I drunk last night."

>>And what some don't get is that in thrall to a small cornfield town you can have sex every weekend for the last 2 years of high school and still not realize that you're gay and he's your boyfriend.

Whether you understood them or not, you've got to admit the director's choices stayed with you enough to make it worth a comment. I also found that the two affecting performances in this movie make it hard to forget. Being gay or experiencing gay bashing is not necessary to finding something worthwhile in this movie, anymore than being a straight MMA fighter is necessary to appreciating Warrior.

Definitely worth tracking down and experiencing for yourself.

Gay teenager Brad (Jay Gillespie) has been attacked and assaulted (not shown) and left battered and nude from the waist down in a cornfield. Straight Andy (David Clayton Rogers) comes by and tries to help him--but why?

Strong short beautifully acted by the two actors. I was surprised to see Gillespie nude from the waist down for the first 5 minutes or so but this was to make it clear that he WAS assaulted. A split screen technique is used throughout almost the entire short so we can see both characters and their reactions to what each other is saying. The dialogue is sometimes awkward but that's exactly how it WOULD be in real life. Both of the actors are great but Gillespie is incredible. He had the more difficult role but he pulls it off. His reactions are completely believable and heart-breaking. Strong and uncomfortable but just great. A must-see! It's part of the DVD "Boys Life 4".