"Bent" is an interesting little Holocaust-film curio (based on a stage production) that looks at the death camps from a homosexual perspective. It is intermittently affecting overall, but has its moments of pretension and self-indulgence (the baroque, decadent opening in Berlin comes to mind); the film can't really shake its stage roots, either, as reflected in certain scene setups (Ian McKellen's cameo in the park feels especially artificial). While conflicted over "Bent"'s seesaw of moments both powerful and superficial, I wound up liking it. Max (Clive Owen) is a member of Berlin's decadent gay underworld before World War II; when the Germans invade, he is promptly shipped off to a labor camp. Along the way, he meets Horst (Lothaire Bluteau), a fellow prisoner who's homosexual; as the duo stacks rocks in blazing summer and freezing winter, they strike up an unconventional love affair (standing still during a 3-minute break every 2 hours, they make love verbally (and literally); these scenes are greatly affecting, with Owen and Bluteau fully convincing us of their passion. Several years before he became a household name, Owen really proved his capabilities here. Though "Bent" treads to an achingly symbolic conclusion, the effort--for the most part--is worth seeing the whole way through.
Review of Bent
