Holding the Man
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Holding the Man |
| Original title | Holding the Man |
| Country of production | Australia |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2015 |
| length | 128 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Neil Armfield |
| script | Tommy Murphy |
| production | Kylie Du Fresne |
| music | Alan John |
| camera | Germain McMicking |
| cut | Dany Cooper |
| occupation | |
| |
Holding the Man is an Australian love story from the year 2015 . The film drama is based on the memoir of the same name by the writer Timothy Conigrave from 1995. It is about Conigrave's relationship with John Caleo from 1976 to 1992. The screenplay was written by Tommy Murphy , who also adapted the memoir in 2006 as a play .
Holding the Man premiered on June 14, 2015 at the Sydney Film Festival and first hit Australian theaters on August 27 of the same year. In Germany, the film was released in cinemas on June 2, 2016.
The title of the film refers to a violation of the rules in Australian football , a sport that the real-life John Caleo practiced during his student days.
action
In 1993 Timothy Conigrave is in Lipari and calls Pepe Trevor on the payphone, with whom he was childhood friend. He asks her where his late partner, John Caleo, was sitting at a party the three of them attended as teenagers. At first, Pepe can't remember why Timothy gives her the number of his hotel. When he returns there, the concierge forwards a message from Pepe. In flashbacks will be told how Timothy and John met.
In 1976 the two students are at the Catholic Xavier College in Melbourne and attend a geography course together. Timothy falls in love with his fellow students and invites John to the performance of Romeo and Juliet , in which he plays the role of Paris. John does not have the time to see the play, so Timothy offers him to come to a party with him, his girlfriend Pepe and several members of the theater club. There the two of them kiss, and later they also have an appointment. One day the two kiss, with Timothy grabbing his friend's pants. John is upset about this and confesses to Timothy that he is not ready for a sexual relationship just yet. Timothy writes him a letter of apology, which is intercepted by her geography professor. He admits to the couple that all university employees already know about their connection and advises them to exercise caution. A few days later, Timothy's parents Dick and Mary tell him that John's father Bob found the letter of apology in his son's room and is threatening legal action if Timothy doesn't stay away from John. Angry, Timothy rides his bicycle to John's house, where he learns that his friend is about to be sent to a psychologist because of his homosexuality . The couple then drives away together and moves to another part of the city.
Three years later, Timothy and John are students at Monash University and members of the lesbian and gay movement . The two want to sleep together in John's house when they are unexpectedly visited by John's family. He defends himself against his father's homophobic hostility and drives away with Timothy. The two of them have anal sex for the first time on the beach . Some time later, Timothy John suggests trying an open relationship . When the latter refuses, Timothy begins fleeting affairs with several acquaintances. He also reveals to John that he has been accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Art . Since John does not want to accompany him, the two separate, and Timothy moves to Sydney alone . There he is instructed by the experienced Barry, with whom there is a heated argument with him during a rehearsal from Endstation Sehnsucht , which is however quickly settled. In his spare time, Timothy spends a lot of time in a gay sauna and often has sex with colleagues. Timothy sees John among the audience during a performance of Noël Coward's play Private Lives . The two make up, John moves to Sydney with him.
In 1985 the two were tested for HIV . John's result is negative, while Timothy's test is positive. However, her doctor informed her a little later that there was a mix-up and that both of them were infected with the virus. In 1988 Timothy traveled to his old hometown Melbourne for the wedding of his sister Anna. There he receives a message from the Red Cross : A patient who was given blood from several donors in 1981 is infected with AIDS . Of the donors screened, Timothy is the only one who also has the disease. Timothy then realizes in tears that it was he who infected John with the disease.
In 1991 John's condition worsened, which is why he is often in the hospital. After a visit to Timothy suffers because of a cerebral edema , a mania , which is why he is also temporarily admitted. Bob visits the bedside couple to discuss John's will and is upset when he tells him that after his death, all of his belongings will go to Timothy. The three finally agree on a compromise, Bob confesses to John that he passed off his illness to acquaintances as cancer . At first John is healthy enough to be able to go home, where he and Tim have sex, the two of them are going to Melbourne for the upcoming Christmas party. John collapses while decorating the Christmas tree and has to be taken to the clinic again. On the holiday he gets a visit from Timothy and tells him that it is not difficult for him to accept his imminent death, which Timothy notes with disbelief.
On January 26, 1992, Timothy was approached by Father Woods during his hospital visit. He plans to call Timothy a friend at John's funeral so as not to alienate his family. Angry, Tim explains that he and John have been a couple for 15 years, calling him his husband. John dies a short time later and his funeral is mostly made up of former classmates from Xavier College.
In the present, Timothy receives the news from Pepe that John was sitting next to him at the party at the time. As he travels through Italy , Timothy reads the last chapter of his memoir aloud, the text is also his last letter to John. An overlaid text states that Timothy Conigrave completed Holding the Man on October 8, 1994 and died ten days later of complications from AIDS at the age of 34.
A post-credit scene features an interview with the real-life Timothy Conigrave shortly before his death, while a picture of the teenagers Timothy and John is shown.
reception
Reviews
In the Internet Movie Database, the film received a rating of 7.3 out of ten stars based on 8,314 votes. At Rotten Tomatoes , the production achieved a critical rating of 79 percent with 24 votes, and 80 percent for users based on 856 votes.
Luke Buckmaster praised the leading actors Ryan Corr and Craig Stott in the Australian branch of the Guardian . Above all, it is thanks to her “tender and yet powerful” performance that the film remains in the minds of the audience. However, the film is a little "shaky" and "not really convincing" shows the close connection between the two main characters, which is why it is ultimately "unsatisfactory".
In Variety, Jay Weissberg criticized the “poor” cut, the “one-dimensional” figures and the fact that neither the homophobia of the time nor the stigmatization of AIDS patients was discussed. He also regretted that "great" actors like Kerry Fox or Guy Pearce only had very short appearances.
The film service criticizes that “not all directors' ideas seem appropriate”, but praises “the touching visualization of the disease” and states that “the good actors [convince]”.
Awards
The film was nominated in the categories of Best Picture , Best Actor , Best Director , Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Supporting Actor and Best Schitt at the AACTA Awards . In the Film Critics Circle of Australia was holding the Man an award in the categories for Best Screenplay and Best Art Direction (for Josephine Ford).
synchronization
The dubbing of the film was done at the CSC studio based on a dialogue book by Monty Arnold and directed by Robert Kotulla .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Timothy Conigrave | Ryan Corr | Timo Kinzel |
| John Caleo | Craig Stott | Daniel Welbat |
| Pepe Trevor | Sarah Snook | Nadine Schreier |
| Bob Caleo | Anthony LaPaglia | Jürgen Holdorf |
| Mary Gert Conigrave | Kerry Fox | Ela Nitzsche |
| Lois Caleo | Camilla Ah KIn | Dagmar Dreke |
| Peter Craig | Tom Hobbs | Michael Bideller |
Web links
- Holding the Man in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Holding the Man . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF).
- ^ Holding The Man (2015). In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 8, 2019 .
- ^ Luke Buckmaster: Holding the Man review - memorable performances but a little wobbly. In: The Guardian. June 15, 2015, accessed March 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Jay Weissberg: Film Review: 'Holding the Man'. In: Variety. August 26, 2015, accessed March 9, 2019 .
- ^ Holding the Man. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 22, 2020 .
- ↑ 5th AACTA Awards. In: aacta.org. Retrieved March 9, 2019 .
- ^ Holding the Man. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 8, 2019 .