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Gerontophilia

Written by Bruce Labruce and Daniel Allen Cox

Directed by Bruce Labruce

Canada, 2013

Gerontophilia, or the sexual preference for the elderly, is the eponymous subject of the new film by Bruce Labruce, iconoclastic Canadian director of subversive narrative porn such as The Raspberry Reich and Hustler White, among others. Given what goes on in other Labruce films, amputee sex, “terrorist chic” sex, zombie sex, etc., the subject matter of his newest didn’t necessarily alarm the way it would for nearly other living filmmaker, Lars von Trier being a potential exception. What’s surprising is how incredibly normal and unshocking the film is, especially given Labruce’s history and the subject at hand. Many critics call this his bid at mainstream, and it could be perceived as such. But if the title doesn’t scare off most audiences, a quick trip through the director’s filmography probably will. Still,...

Hometown bad boy Bruce Labruce is back at the Toronto International Film Festival with what could bedescribed as a sort of gay “Harold and Maude” (though Labruce prefers a "reverse 'Lolita'"). Set in Montreal, the film details the sexual relationship between a teenage boy (dreamy newcomer Pier-Gabriel Lajoie) and an 82 year old man (Walter Borden) that he meets while working at a nursing home. While the severely May-December romance at the film’s center certainly breaks taboos in itself, it doesn’t feature explicit sex -- a first in Labruce’s filmography. Labruce talked to Indiewire about that change of pace as well as the film itself -- which debuted Monday night and screens again Friday. So where did “Gerontophilia” come from? It was kind of a long process. I thought of the idea about three or four years ago. There was a first draft that I wasn’t really happy with.