Starcrossed

I had the pleasure of seeing this short film at the Miami film festival this past Saturday and let me just say I was astounded. It was the only film out of the whole program that I loved. It is beautifully shot, composed, edited, acted and written. After the screening I saw the director at a party and asked him what he was doing next. He said that he was working on finding financing for the feature version of the short. He described some scenes to me. It sounded like the kind of first film that launches the greats into the industry. If you ever get a chance to see this short I highly recommend taking it. Hats off to star crossed.

a love story.real special. for solid story, acting, delicacy and dramatic.for remembers about great love stories. for the touching credibility. and for the science to be support for reflection about solitude, friendship, solidarity, compassion, desires of parents about children and a form of affection who escapes to precise definitions. a film great for its scent. like the scent of a field flower in early spring.

Starcrossed stretches the outer limits between social acceptability and love in its purest form. Writer/Director James Burkhammer tells a moving story of two brothers and the close sexual relationship that develops between them. Burkammer's film follows the boys growing up from their early prepubescent years to their teens, and is able to effectively capture, in a non judgmental manner, the intense emotional connection the two brothers have for each other. At times you forget that the two boys are brothers, and instead enjoy the true beauty of their love for each other.

J.B. Ghuman, who plays the protective older brother Darren, performed his part flawlessly and convincingly, with passion that resonated on the screen. Equally, Marshall Allman put in a solid performance as the younger brother Connor. Together both actors brought the perfect chemistry to their roles that made their relationship convincing and realistic. The turmoil and tragedy that ensues when their parents become aware of the relationship is captivating and unforgiving.

The cinematography was average and probably could have been done better, although this did not take away from the effectiveness of this film.

Regardless of where you stand morally on the subject of this film (incest), Starcrossed captures well the true beauty of unconditional love between two people. Not to be missed.

I just watched this short at the PlanetOut Movies.

Starcrossed was a very sweet, sad, little movie about two brothers that are in love. There is some great, subtle acting from both the male leads. Often times movies with this subject matter seem to get too caught up in the controversy and shock value of the plot that they forget that there is an actual story. Luckily writer director James Burkhammer does not do this, and instead lets the story play out with honesty. The sequences of the two boys first falling in love are very sweet.

I'm rather surprised that anybody found this film touching or moving.

The basic premise of the film sounded to me like an excellent, if provocative, idea for a movie about a rare sort of relationship, but one (if I can judge by the real-life examples I've known) is extremely deep and loving.

However, the film is cheaply scripted--poorly scripted--and although it has a number of very pretty-looking shots, I didn't find it to be anything special.

Probably the biggest problem is that it is far too short and poorly-composed to give its audience time enough to invest, emotionally, in the characters: we don't really care about any of them, and so their stresses and obstacles don't really touch us.

I think a REMAKE--from the screenplay up--with some character development by some really good writers--could improve it greatly. It is instructive to compare this film with Brokeback Mountain, which the screen-writers took to far loftier levels than did the author of the screenplay--screen-writers who were clearly conscious of how to write a classical tragedy, and carried out their task with care, planning, and superb craftsmanship! However, people only seem to remake those films that don't need it! You're not really missing anything if you skip this one: I found it very disappointing indeed, and it is only saved from getting a 1-star from me by virtue of the daring and gumption it took to make a film on this sensitive subject.