Swoon

1992

Chicago, Illinois

Tom Kalin

Gay Crime Romance

What’s it all about: It’s 1924, and dress shirts take forever to unbutton. Crossfit has not been invented yet, so gay lovers Daniel Schlachet and Craig Chester pass their time playing poker with drag queens, stuffing their pants with dead birds, and committing crimes.

First Encounter: at the theater; Candotti’s first viewing

Prostitute Index: nil

Death By: chisel and shiv

Relics: sock garters, button-back onesie, a very 90s idea of 20s style

Hoops: Chicago as crime capital, gays that must be punished

Heartthrobs: Adina Porter, Daniel Schlachet

LoFi Magic: lazy susan-style camerawork, psychological mugshots

Makes me want to: point out that this was the entirety of gay cinema in my formative years — beautiful, exciting, deviant and inevitably tragic (Carol was the first gay movie I’ve ever seen where the couple is not physically harmed by the end)

Candotti take: “Dialogue in the right moments, not all the time. This movie gives you time to listen, and time to think.”

Previous
Previous

Losing Ground

Next
Next

Man on a Swing