{gay} – Page 168 – { feuilleton }

Dallamano’s Dorian Gray

The 1970 screen adaptation of Dorian Gray by Massimo Dallamano is one film version I’ve yet to see. Given that it’s a production of notorious schlock merchants Samuel Z Arkoff and Harry Alan Towers I wouldn’t expect too much although it does have Helmut Berger as the star when he was at the height of his pulchritude. And I really like this Klimt-esque poster, a typical piece of Seventies design with an illustration that resembles many of the trendier European comic strips of the period. I’ve no idea who the artist was despite there being a scrawled signature. If anyone has a clue, please leave a comment.

Update: The artist is Ted Coconis.

• A lengthy review at Cinebeats

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The Oscar Wilde archive

Sexual healing

Sexual healing
| Simon Callow on gay roles in cinema.

Vintage swordplay #2

Even though I never really noticed before it’s become fairly obvious that adding a sword to a beefcake photo was a way of lending some spurious historicity to an otherwise overt piece of male nudity, the cheap version of having models pose among Greek or Roman ruins. Not that I’m complaining, of course. This example comes from Bob Anthony’s New York studio of the 1960s. Thanks to Aristan for the tip!

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The men with swords archive

Mishima’s Rite of Love and Death

Yukio Mishima’s extraordinary, little-seen 28-minute film Yûkoku aka Patriotism aka Rite of Love & Death (1966) was released on DVD earlier this year via Criterion. You can also see it now on Ubuweb.

Playwright and novelist Yukio Mishima foreshadowed his own violent suicide with this ravishing short feature, his only foray into filmmaking, yet made with the expressiveness and confidence of a true cinema artist. All prints of Patriotism (Yûkoku), which depicts the seppuku of a army officer, were destroyed after Mishima’s death in 1970, though the negative was saved, and the film resurfaced thirty-five years later. New viewers will be stunned at the depth and clarity of Mishima’s vision, as well as his graphic depictions of sex and death.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Secret Lives of the Samurai
• Guido Reni’s Saint Sebastian
• The art of Takato Yamamoto

Mikel Marton

Mikel by Mikel.

Delectable Canadian photographer and self-proclaimed “renowned exhibitionist” Mikel Marton (aka Toxicboy) has finally moved from LiveJournal to Blogger. Looks like postings there of himself and his models will be more regular than before which is good to see. And his Toxicboy site is still active, of course.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Tiger Lily
• Toxicboy