The Mountain King

two young men. a beach. a summer house. and profound change of life for one of them. nothing special. maybe a parable or a Coelho story. but, it is only a short movie. seductive, shining, wise. at many short films. strange, it is a gay story but not about sexual options. its subject is the choice who defines life. courage/ occasion to discover yourself. art of joy. and desire to build your new beginning. the first scenes and the last are extraordinaries. Paul Dawson and John Sloan does touching roles, in fact pieces of way to be free out of world expectations. it is something magic in this film. and necessary. like a wake up. or, only, like a meeting as seed.

This little film, which went largely unnoticed in 2001 at most film festivals, is an incredible tour de force. An uptight, middle-class tourist (reading Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy") on a lonely beach is approached by a sleazy, obnoxious hustler. The hustler seduces -- there is no other word for it -- him into the water and then into a luxurious beach house. There, the two lives collide in a tidal wave of sex, excitement, drugs and release. Like the accompanying music (Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King," from the "Peer Gynt" suite), the film builds to an emotional crescendo that will have you on the edge of your seat. It's almost impossible to describe the emotions. It's just...WOW. The encounter with the dangerous, sleazy, manipulative hustler opens up the frigid tourist, releasing emotion like a volcano. Even when he realizes that things haven't ended up quite as safe as he'd like (abandonment, theft and breaking-and-entering being only some of the things we realize have occurred), the film's final minute is a jaw-dropping visual statement about risking everything in order to gain life. Director Duncan Tucker is someone to watch for in the future! (And so are his two actors -- just incredible!)

first, for its simplicity. than - for the status of an old known story. not the last - for the final lesson. a beach. two guys. real different. the temptation. and the fundamental change. and, sure, Grieg. at first sigh, a version of Faust. the hidden desire. and the profound metamorphosis. and the change of places. nothing new. but surprising for the admirable manner to use this pieces. for performances. and for an end who deserves applause. because it is only a circle. desires, meets, the happiness. and, sure, the price. like reward.

"The Mountain King" is one of those kind of films that belong in the realm of fantasy rather than a realistic work. It's all about dreams, desires, fantasies, possibilites and what if's of life. It's not about "those things don't happen in real life", it's more about how open minded people could be and if taken certain risks and daring it could actually happen, and great amazing things would happen. Duncan Tucker, the future director of the incredible "Transamerica" made a fun, light-hearted and interesting film destined to open some minds to new experiences though he uses of the power of imagination and fantasy to compose his story and one has to have a great deal of imagination to go along with.

A shy loner guy (John Sloan) is approached by a hunky hustler (Paul Dawson, way before "Shortbus") who asks him for 40 bucks and in exchange they'll have some fun together. That right there is the first sign that things never go this way, it's the other way around with the guy requesting the hustler. Anyway, the lonely dude just wants to stay there at the beach, reading his book and allegedly waiting for his girlfriend to show up. But in the world of movies we know they'll go together to some place, things will heat up and the most unexpected encounter of all time will become a life changing event to the less experienced young man.

What more can be said: it's funny, sexy, very unusual at times, and it comes with a cool twist to give audiences plenty of reflections about the people we allow to enter our lives, what we allow them to show to us and how such connection and experiences can redifine us in positive and rewarding ways. That's the ultimate goal of "The Mountain King" and through dream/fantasy conventions we are allowed to see life in a lighter and curious way. 10/10.

I've seen quite a few short films at the Tampa gay and lesbian film festival over the years and most of them tend to blur together in my mind after a year or so.... but this one I remember, and now I guess I'm going to get a hold of the DVD of "Boys to Men" (it's one of the three films featured) in order to see it again. Duncan Tucker went on to write and direct Transamerica and I just saw Paul Dawson in "Shortbus" last week at the festival and he was fantastic, as was the movie !

I am always frustrated when people pan a movie because it deals with something outside of their own personal experience. Seduction, lies, manipulation... all words with negative associations, and yet there have been times in my life when a most scuzzy character has opened my mind to possibilities that I hadn't dreamed of.