Shiner

I've seen "Shiner" about 8 times, including on the big screen in NYC. I was absolutely thrilled to be presented with a work that did not seek to condescend to merely "entertain" me. I was exposed to a unique world that lived by rules I did not understand & (thank God) the film did not waste time feeding me small, easy-to-swallow narrative that neatly explained what I should be feeling and why I should be feeling it. IF ALL YOU WANT FROM A FILM IS TO ESCAPE YOUR DULL LIFE FOR TWO HOURS, BEST STAY AWAY. If you need a clear-cut hero's journey to take you by the hand and lead you down a much-traveled road with special effects, a good guy & bad guys & funny moments that indicate they are funny by mad-cap gesticulation, you will not "get" this. If you need a film that makes you feel "good", there's plenty of other stuff for you at the video store.

As for me and those of you who appreciate a work where you truly have no idea what will happen next, that stimulates you without seeking to manipulate you with some political agenda, or that dares to exist, true-to-itself without apology & without catering to mainstream tastes (i.e. ART), then you're in luck. "Shiner" falls into this category.

It is proof that in quiet, dark ways, true, artistic cinema, long overshadowed by the business of sure-fire hits & their copycats, exists.

I saw this film last year and would like to comment on the plot and the acting. Although the subject matter was extensively grim, I enjoyed the depiction of raw emotion, both in terms of the graphic physical and sexual imagery as well as in terms of emotion. As a highly successful director I would especially like to note Seth Harrington (Reg's) performance as exceptional. His performance was raw and powerful as well as profound. Unfortunately, I don't believe Harrington received adequate recognition for his performance. I hope he continues to pursue his interest in the performing arts and film, as I think he shows great potential. Good luck Seth Harrington, I am sure you will eventually obtain the praise you rightly deserve.

A friend of mine had rented "Shiner" only because the clerks at his local video store were talking about "how much of a bigot the director is," implying that homophobia was at the root of the film (apparently these folks never watched the special features on the DVD, which totally negates that opinion). My friend took the video home and reported to me his fascination with the film; at the same time, he felt aroused, repulsed, intrigued and frightened during and after the flick. He told me about the premise of the film, and felt somewhat ashamed for finding some of its darker content erotic.

A few weeks later, I picked up the film and had a similar experience. I was confused; in the queer movement were taught so much about power dynamics and organize ourselves to fight violence, but here was a dramatically different take on the subject. What ended my confusion was the interview with writer/director Christian Calson on the DVD. The line of his that grabbed me the most: "I didn't want to make another gay romantic comedy." Things suddenly made sense to me. So many queer, I mean, gay films (ahem) are merely homo-remakes of mainstream romantic comedies. As queers, our message got lost as we sought inclusion in a particular medium. So, in what might be the most post-modern move of a writer/director in film history, Christian Calson sought to queer gay cinema. (Yes, I'm using queer as a verb.) He later supports this argument by talking about a form of "post-gay liberation" in which gay leaders shouted "We're doctors! We're lawyers! We're teachers!" to the point our difference and diversity became invisible. "We're just like you" led to us becoming nothing, in a sense.

While the movie is disturbing at times, it's thoroughly engaging. The audience member feels like a voyeur, peeping into the lives of these three "couples." And through that voyeurism, we come to a closer understanding of the elements of violence and how it relates to queerness. From self-loathing to internalized homophobia, from bitter rage to being just plain f'ed up, "Shiner" takes us through a mini-gamut of how violence affects us all, in ways no PSA or "the More You Know" segment could ever hope to address.

I highly suggest that you pick up the DVD of the film and watch the special features, including the Calson interview and the commentary, which is a noteworthy production in its own right.

I saw it at the 2004 SF gay & lesbian film festival and the audience was distinctly unnerved, which was obviously the goal. You follow two lowlife-types vaguely connected with a gym torment various people in their lives for amusement. It is an extended trip through a world where friendship and attraction end in humiliation and violence. Sound unpleasant? It is; but there is an obsessiveness that keeps it from being merely sordid. It's serious and disturbing. It doesn't glamorize violence--quite the opposite. Though there are several moments of bizarre humor, especially a scene where a man and a woman exchange absurd small talk while getting steamed up in bed.

I liked this movie a lot more than other reviews led me to expect to. I think many of the defects others saw were done intentionally by the director in order to shake the audience out of the complacency we all tend to enter into automatically when we watch a movie.

We have seen so many movies that we cannot help expecting certain conventions of plot, characterization and style; when we do not find those conventions, we think we have seen a bad movie. While Shiner is no great masterpiece, it is far from the garbage many others said it is.

It is disorienting, often disturbing, sometimes disarmingly erotic, and certainly very much unlike any other movie any of us have EVER seen. The acting is consistently strong, surprisingly strong, very much better than the deceptively amateurish production would seem to inspire.

The many unfavorable reviews show that the director has succeeded in one of his goals: to shake up his audience. Some people hate being shaken like that, but I love it.