Johan

A typically French film of the period - reeling in the after math of the 60s new-wave genre . We're into the 70s here and a refreshingly liberated gay portrayal in the classic auteur style. The scattered ambivalence for cinematic narrative, together with Paris herself symbolising permission for intellectual irreverence of any rules or boundaries. The film tells something of the lives of a group of young carefree gay adults and filming takes place among the bars, apartments and cruising areas of night time Paris.

Interestingly it was made in the same year as Jarman's Sebastiane and it makes for a parallel equivalent to his work, evoking something of Jarmans 8mm films of the period and even Sebastiane itself.

Dated, but interesting partially because it is a little known work.

A mix of color scenes and black and white scenes, JOHAN was originally released in 1976, and quickly condemned by the powers that be as obscene. The narrator laments the fact that Johan, the star of his yet-to-be filmed movie, has been arrested, and is currently in jail awaiting trial. We follow the director around Paris, as he cruises for a replacement star, as well as for lovers. Written and directed by Phillippe Vallois, we follow along as he "auditions" potential stars in parks, apartments, alleys, bars, and restaurants. The whole time, Vallois is addressing the absent Johan, and it appears that he is making this documentary for the absent star/lover. The dialogue and the action get EXTREMELY explicit at times, and definitely should only be viewed by the over 18 crowd, and the those who are NOT easily offended. There is a beautiful young woman "Christine" , who, according to the cast list, is the friend of the director. Surprisingly good film quality and editing,especially considering it was done in France over 30 years ago. Interesting combination of a behind- the- scenes documentary, combined with love/lust scenes, with very attractive actors drifting in and out of the plot. Don't look for a deep plot or any life lessons, just enjoy the film for what it provides. The "Bonus Feature" is a narrative by a present day Vallois (writer & director), where he describes the actual making of the film, and the events in his life which brought him to the making of this film. Every bit as interesting as the movie itself. This 1976 version does not seem at all related to the 1921 version or the 2005 version, both of which are also from Europe.

An early 16mm effort by renowned French gay filmmaker Philippe Vallois, it would be unfair to judge this as it turns out supremely self-indulgent work by the same standards one applies to his later and far more polished productions, the best known of which are the moving wartime melodrama NOUS ETIONS UN SEUL HOMME and his naughty noir send-up HALTEROFLIC a/k/a RAINBOW SERPENT. JOHAN is typical of early '70s Continental art-house fare in that it was made to express the voice of but one man – the director's – with additional characters introduced for the sole purpose of roles occupied within the filmmaker's life. While this might reek of navel contemplation, it must also be seen as a product of the times. Even for those who could care less about the man in question, this remains a historical document of considerable importance, vividly registering a moment in time within gay life and culture, post late '60s liberation and prior to the advent of AIDS.

Quite literally a film in search of its main character, JOHAN details the director's quest for an actor to play his titular lover, the real deal having been incarcerated just prior to shooting on charges of petty theft. Stylistically, the movie initially seems all over the place, switching from black and white to color, stark realism to campy flights of fancy and with the filmmaker not only appearing as himself but somewhat confusingly casting a pair of cruising hustlers (one shot Georges Barber and Patrice Pascal, who appeared in Jean-François Davy's seminal soft porn classic BANANES MECANIQUES) as alter egos. Gradually, Vallois develops a method to his madness, cutting through the frills and flourishes to arrive at a core of youthfully wide-eyed romanticism, undeniably dated three decades down the line yet also extremely touching in its sincerity devoid of the cynicism that was to cloud the communal cerebellum through the passage of time. As was often the case with pioneering gay erotica, this mood is underlined with heavy classical music, in this case the compositions of Austrian Anton Brückner whose work was perhaps most effectively employed in Luchino Visconti's haunting SENSO with Alida Valli.

Occasionally playing himself, struggling cinema auteur Philippe Vallois takes a tour of the legendary homo haunts of Paris circa 1975, prowling the bars, bath houses, public toilets and the once notorious for its rampant round the clock cruising Tuileries Gardens in an attempt to secure a vacant facsimile for his absent lover in the film he's about to make, only to be disappointed at every turn. That's the premise, elaborated upon with interviews either candid or fabricated – only the director knows for sure and he leaves the matter tantalizingly up in the air – with friends and family members, including his delightfully open-minded mother and giggly girlfriend Marie-Christine Weill, who had a bit part in Max Pécas' obscure LA PEUR ET L'AMOUR and does a defiant and unexpected full frontal nude scene here. Juggling formats and film stock, the movie acquires texture in a groundbreaking coming of age (and, personally, out of the closet) effort by talented DoP François About who could easily have gone mainstream but elected to remain ensconced within pornography, his collaborations with Francis Leroi and Martin Cognito being especially noteworthy. His assistant here was the 18 year old Thierry Arbogast who would rightfully gain formidable recognition as regular camera man to Luc Besson on NIKITA, LEON, THE FIFTH ELEMENT and beyond ! Still further interest added to a peculiar picture long believed lost until its near miraculous DVD resurrection.

In order to fully appreciate the director's achievement, one should most definitely watch the 2006 documentary entitled JOHAN : SECRETS DU TOURNAGE, helpfully included as an indelible extra on the DVD release. Not only does it feature an extensive interview with Vallois, helpfully situating the work within his own artistic output and French cinema in general, but it also showcases the rediscovered hardcore footage snipped at the time of release, most of which the director chose not to re-instate now that his yearning to provoke has waned with age. Though bereft of its more graphic shots, the sex is still clearly not simulated on most occasions yet most of the performers were actually recruited by Vallois among the City of Lights' denizens of the night and chose not to actively pursue a career in pornography. Chief exception was Karl Forest (billed under what might be his real name "Jean-Paul Doux") who appears as a hunky Foreign Legionnaire in a prototypical desert fantasy sequence and was of course the star attraction of American Wallace Potts' quintessential LE BEAU MEC. His is but one of many candy-colored diversions, pre-dating the kitsch-embracing photographic illusions of Pierre & Gilles, liberally sprinkled throughout the freewheeling narrative, not so covertly referencing Jim Bidgood's gay identity defining PINK NARCISSUS.