I've just watched The Gigolos at the Durango Film Festival. It was completely delightful. Sly, sad, and comic by turns. Newcomers Trevor and Sacha were excellent. I especially loved the development of Trevor's character: the 'office manager', his date with Lady James, the pick-up, the poaching, the life modelling, the reconciliation with Sacha, and the grocer girl. There is a gentle, atmospheric, bemused tone to the direction and camera-work; very unusual, highly original. A floating, timeless atmosphere. There's no sense of a measured passage of time; intervals could be hours or months. And similarly there is a curious placelessness: it's London, but there are almost no references to neighborhoods or landmarks. The hand-held camera work - the cinema verite tone - produces a documentary's sense of immediacy and viewer presence; but this was combined with the timelessness and placelessness to produce an enjoyable disorientation, a euphoria. The pace is deliberately slow. So many scenes are street shots and interior shots of the two gigolos just living: walking, waiting, bathing, sleeping. This works really well. The plot is an occasional pattern within real lives. I'd love to know if there really is a Gigolos Club in London's Mayfair!
I don't know if The Gigolos is yet on general release, but if you like original films then this is a must-see. I still can't believe this was the first feature for the director and for Trevor and Sacha.
I don't know if The Gigolos is yet on general release, but if you like original films then this is a must-see. I still can't believe this was the first feature for the director and for Trevor and Sacha.