moviesg4u: Basil Dearden

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Victim 1961

Victim
Meu Passado me Condena (Brazil)
Der Teufelskreis (West Germany)
La victime (France)
Ofret (Denmark)
Teufelskreis (Austria)
Uhattu (Finland)
Víctima (Spain)

Basil Dearden
UK
English
1961
Crime, Drama
100min
Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price, Nigel Stock, Peter McEnery, Donald Churchill, Anthony Nicholls, Hilton Edwards, Norman Bird, Derren Nesbitt, Alan MacNaughton, Noel Howlett, Charles Lloyd Pack, John Barrie, John Cairney

A primeira vez que se ouviu no cinema a palavra ´homossexual´ foi neste filme. Na Inglaterra da época, o homossexualismo era considerado crime, segundo leis que remontavam à época da rainha Vitória. O impacto social do filme foi tão grande que levou a uma mudança da lei. Muitos filmes tentaram mudar o mundo. Este conseguiu e, como cinema, se mantém forte.
O famoso ator Dirk Bogarde, gay também na vida real, interpreta uma vítima de chantagens por suas preferências sexuais ocultas.

A plea for reform of England's anti-sodomy statutes, this film pits Melville Farr, a married lawyer, against a blackmailer who has photos of Farr and a young gay man (who is being blackmailed and later commits suicide)in Farr's car. After the suicide, Farr tracks down other gay men being extorted for money by the same blackmailer. The well-educated police Detective Inspector Harris considers the sodomy law nothing more than an aid to blackmailers, and helps Farr in calling his blackmailer's bluff. The movie, far ahead of its time, ends with Farr and his wife coming to terms with his homosexuality after the public exposure he faces in the blackmailer's trial.