Page 22 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Entertainment

February 19, 1993

A study in truth or dare

Together Alone

Cleveland Cinematheque Thurs, Mar. 11 at 7:30 pm Sat, Mar. 13 at 9:30 pm

Reviewed by Joe Morris

Let's say you've got an Aunt Ethel who considers herself fairly open and accepting, but doesn't really know much about gay male life and is curious as to what goes on. Take her to this film.

Together Alone is a dark film, both in terms of cinematography and content. Costing $7,000, written, produced and directed by P.J. Castellaneta, it opens with a series of fleeting images showing two men meeting in a bar, one following the bicycle rider home in a car, the men preparing for bed and then flashing visual suggestions of sexual intercourse--all while the credits roll.

The opening scenes are dark and moody, a film noir which arrives at and stays in a claustrophobic bedroom for almost 90 minutes. The focus is on the two characters who engage in clothed, post-coital conversation which is more than just polite small talk. The opening accusations about honesty and unsafe sex mushroom into topics that touch on all aspects of gay life, both spoken and those best left unsaid.

We're eavesdropping on the bedroom of Bryan, a young man who has had little sexual activity over several years but this night was the willing anal recipient of unprotected sex. He is quite sure his temporary mate's name is Bill--at least that's what it was while "Bill" was downing five drinks at the bar. But no, the other is really named Brian, so several minutes are spent discussing honesty and the ability to remember

someone's name, which is almost the same.

As for the risk of HIV transmission, Bryan is now becoming convinced he's been infected by his deceiving partner. Whose responsibility is it anyway? The arguments volley like a high school debate. Brian first stonewalls about his status and · eventually admits that he's never been tested (or is he deceiving again?). The bottom counters with the suggestion that the infection could have gone the other way--he saw a cut on Brian's penis.

During the discussion there are other spars with omitted truth, denial, avoidance, misunderstanding and commonality. As the layers of this onion are peeled away we learn more about the visitor than we do about Bryan. It seems Brian is really bisexual; he claims he's always a top. His host, with the smug knowledge that is shared by many a gay man, challenges him, suggesting he's really a top for the women and a bottom when he's with men.

There are several other gay civics and health lessons given throughout the film; at times it struck me as a course requirement for Homo 101, one example being: anal sex stimulates the prostate, not the prostrate, silly. Militant drag queens, loneliness, feminism, abortion, social responsibility are all topics for this night of verbal exploration.

This U.S. 1991 black and white film has won best gay feature awards from the 1992 Berlin International Film Festival, the 1991 San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, and the 1991 Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, among other awards and screenings. Its images are tightly focused, relentlessly playing with the black and white of shadows and the checkerboard pattern on the sheets and pil-

17

Todd Stites and Terry Curly have a long talk about honesty and unsafe sex.

low cases. Bryan (Todd Stites) is blond, Brian (Terry Curry) is dark-haired, partly to accentuate the point and partly to keep the names arranged, I suppose.

If you are looking for a visual spectacle, look elsewhere. The tight camera work and close set, while photographed admirably by David Dechant, provide bleak images after awhile. You're forced into watching the tightly-moving conversation. Critics have compared Together Alone to My Dinner with André, which was a full-length feature composed almost entirely of two people conversing. But André told incredible tales, improbable adventures with wide-eyed gestures. Bryan and Brian are far removed from fantasy, revealing to each other deep secrets

and desires they have shared with few others.

During part of their reverie, one starts to describe the dream he had during his postorgasmic snooze, and then the other continues and expands on the description. It seems both men have had the same dream, up to a point. One is afraid of water, the other of heights; one wakes up but the other travels a little further on. Perhaps Brian and Bryan are really two halves of the same person--the yin and yang that is introduced and lectured about during the film.

There is no happy ending; just a sense of life moving on as best it can, of people using the night to complement their daytime world. In the end we each validate the oxymoron, together alone.

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