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I sat down to watch this movie, and I was completely drawn into it. By the end, i thought that only 15 minutes had passed instead of an hour and a half. The subject matter (homosexual persecution during the Holocaust) was approached with the right amount of dignity and respect. Bent, furthermore, has the most powerful and original love scene that I have ever seen. I do feel that it needed more character development, but regardless it is an intensely psychological and powerful movie.

While I didn't spot Jude Law or Rachel Weisz, I couldn't miss Clive Owen. What a fantastic performance and a gorgeous backside. Supported by Ian McKellen and a very glam Mick Jagger, he goes on a terrible journey that I can only imagine is amazing on stage.

It wasn't as horrificly graphic as I was expecting, which was pleasing, as some concentration camp films really upset me, but it still had a strong and poignant message to tell.

I wasn't sure if the bombed out properties used at the beginning as the club and Clive's house were to represent the stage show more than a true idea of where they would actually be, but I liked its quirks and artistic direction throughout.

As much as I love Mr Owen, I think I have to say that Lothaire really gives the greatest most emotive and heartfelt performance in this film and the "No touching" scene was unbelievable.

I happened upon this movie in the "Sundance Film Recommends" section, and didn't even read the box before renting it. The name of the film sounded familiar...as it turns out, it was from a bit of miscellaneous info stashed in my brain: Jude Law IS in this movie. Saying that, however, blink and you'll miss him. His role is exactly 2 lines, and he wears an eyepatch, so for those Jude fans on the prowl for great eye-candy, you may be disappointed.

Granted, you will not be disappointed with this movie as a whole. I was extremely moved by this picture; it has the wonderful, heart-wrenching quality that only a great play can produce, mixed with a very compelling lead actor and fabulous supporting cast.

Clive Owen as Max was a wake-up call; at the end you may be asking yourself, "where can I see more of this actor??". He plays his character with beauty, strength, and emotion under conditions that no lving thing should have to endure.

The rest of the cast is equally wonderful, especially Ian McKellan as Uncle Freddie. He adds that special charm that we expect from his performances, no matter how small the role.

This movie requires an open mind, and the ability to not deny the reality of horrific, true events of the past. Above all, to not deny the importance of love, that which always tests and strengthens the human spirit.

When Martin Sherman's play first appeared (with Ian McKellen as Max and Tom Bell as Horst) it caused outrage and much discussion with its sympathetic and frank treatment of forbidden love in the age of the SS.

Here it has undergone a few changes but retains its stark power. Clive Owen (probably not my first choice for the role) plays Max, the homosexual who pretends to be a Jew so he is not at the bottom of the pecking order of prisoners. The way the SS force him to prove his sexuality is shocking whether on the printed page, in a theatre, or up on the big screen. Brian Webber plays his intellectual lover Rudy with some class and it is a brief but touching performance.

Lothaire Bluteau, who I had only seen before in 'Jesus of Montreal', was brilliant in the role of Horst, the prisoner with the pink triangle who awakens Max again from his imprisoned desires. There are quiet and intense scenes between the two that are almost unbearably moving to watch, and are done within this film extremely well.

Elsewhere in the cast, Ian McKellen himself plays Uncle Freddie (but those of us who saw him as Max would love to have seen that portrayal immortalised on screen), while Mick Jagger is surprisingly good as Greta (a role which could easily be played wrong but he's spot on).

This play/film is intended to make its audience confront their prejudices, to shock, move, and inspire them. I think it is an unmissable experience - a difficult one, but worthwhile.

Homosexual playboy in 1930s Germany fights to keep himself and his gay flat-mate out of the grasp of Nazi soldiers, but they are soon rounded up and face the horrors of war. This tough-going drama doesn't delve too deeply into the Party's initial conflict over homosexuality, but it does touch on the labeling of gay men with the Pink Triangle, making them perhaps even more reviled than the Jews (Clive Owen picks the yellow Star of David symbol over the triangle, figuring being a Jew might actually help him survive). Initially arty presentation has flashes of pretension, but is still gripping on a visual and visceral level and very well-acted. It's almost two different movies, however, with a work-camp second-half given an appropriately straightforward, if unexciting, treatment. Adapted from the controversial play, the last act has perhaps more going on than is actually revealed, and the viewer may either feel the movie loses its energy and soul during this portion or that it is successful on an entirely different level. In any case, difficult as an entertainment, but certainly worthwhile for those curious about this lost chapter in history. **1/2 from ****

Nazi-era playboy Clive Owen (as Max) and his dancer lover Brian Webber (as Rudy) are pursued by Nazis, after Mr. Owen is picked up by blond hunk Nikolaj Waldau (as Wolf), in a gay club. After being captured, Owen and Mr. Weber are tortured, on a train to Germany's first concentration camp, at Dachau. Also on the train, Owen meets Lothaire Bluteau (as Horst). Mr. Bluteau wears the "Pink Triangle" identifying him as a homosexual, which is considered an especially low form of human life, by the Nazis. To avoid being beaten to death, Owen pretends to be Jewish, and is given the identifying "Yellow Star". At the concentration camp, prisoners Owen and Bluteau fall in love; but, they must avoid any physical contact.

The opening club/orgy sequence is presented in a disjointed, confusing fashion. It's hard to figure out what is going on -- you should, if possible, play the opening (up until the Nazis bust into Owen's pad) twice. The cast is enhanced by cross-dressing Mick Jagger (as Greta), and the original 1979 stage production's "Max", Ian McKellen (as Uncle Freddie). Mr. Jagger also sings the haunting theme "Streets of Berlin". Director Sean Mathias and supporting actor Webber make excellent first impressions; it's strange to see so little work (film credits) immediately followed this production.

This film version of Martin Sherman's "forbidden" love story is far from perfect; but, it's still quite captivating. The extent of "man's inhumanity to man" is, as always, horrifying. The film's non-physical sex scene, performed at the concentration camp, is extremely touching.

******* Bent (1997) Sean Mathias ~ Clive Owen, Lothaire Bluteau, Mick Jagger

I had seen the play on Broadway twice, once with Richard Gere and David Dukes, and once with Michael York and Jeffrey DeMunn. The movie is very faithful to the play and was just as interesting, which usually is not the case. Mick Jagger is great as Greta. All in all, I'd recommend this movie and did not find it pretentious in the least.

First, I admire the audacity of the filmmakers here. But, alas, this is a very bad film. People tend to tread lightly over and treat with "kid gloves" any movie involving the Holocaust or serious homosexual themes. Criticizing such films is tantamount to anti-Semiticism or homophobia. These filmmakers were probably trying to multiply such sympathies by using both themes. Its theatre source is apparent. It's pretentious and tries too hard to push our buttons. Bad outing.

Gay lust/love and decadence in Berlin, Jews-Nazis-concentration camps - all intriguing elements, a good basis for developing a tense narration where different aspects of human nature move to the surface. The story can be roughly divided into 2 parts, different by mood - before arrest and after it. Although the 1st one has menacing circumference as well, events in the secretive club (including nice performance by Mick Jagger) are in total contrast with miseries in Dachau where gays and Jews were the lowest strata, suffering most hardships. The 2nd part includes the strongest scenes of the film where the 2 protagonists (splendidly performed by Clive Owen and Lothaire Bluteau) have to stand attention... The ending was, unfortunately, predictable, and not all scenes have equal significance for the progression of the script. Nevertheless, unless you are uncomfortable with "different" approaches on "known" events, then Bent is definitely for you; plus I think that Clive Owen should be used more in profound drama films - he did a great job here.

If like me you live in Britain and stay up late you often find obscure films being shown on Channel 4 . One night I stayed up and by chance watched BENT. After I watched I realised I should try going to bed early

BENT starts off bizarrely with transvestites parading around one of which is Sir Mick Jagger so I was expecting a sort of camp version of CABARET , but explicit scenes of gay sex followed and after that the film descended into a very pretentious and obvioulsy stage based drama where Clive Owen looks grim faced and keeps repeating " This can`t be happening " over and over again . And despite what other reviewers have said about this film I found myself feeling nothing except terminal boredom .

In short this is the type of film that ruins the British film industry but which Britain continues to make despite a very limited market . And no I`m not being homophobic . If the characters had been , Jews , Slavs , trade unionists , communists or any other type of victim of Nazism I would still have hated this film

Only half way through this film did I remember having seen a small theatre production of the play in Los Angeles a dozen years ago. I only remembered when the rock-moving scenes began. I don't recall being particularly moved by the play -- it may have been a condensed 1-act version or something. I only remember thinking it was too "talky." But, the film was very powerful and moving and enraged me! I'm also older and more aware of prejudice on every level. Every gay person...or minority of any kind (race, religion, etc.) should see this film just to remind them (us) of just HOW BAD it can get and how "humans" can become such sick animals as the Nazis were in this film. I kept thinking: "Hey, how can they keep blaming Hitler, when he was not there ordering the guards to torture and ENJOY hurting people like that?" Powerful film!

No person who is knowledgeable about the Holocaust can ever claim that without seeing Bent. The play which opened in 1979 in London is about those all too forgotten victims of the Holocaust, the gay people of Europe. On Broadway the lead role that Clive Owen plays was essayed by Richard Gere for the run of 241 performances in the 1979-1980 season. Doing his original role from the London production as Uncle Freddie is Sir Ian McKellan.

For those who think that homosexuality doesn't have an inherited element in it, Bent certainly gives lie to that. During the Weimar Republic years Germany had a thriving gay if somewhat discreet scene. After the Night of the Long Knives with the SA purge in 1934, gays were systematically rounded up for a final solution and Hitler certainly did a thorough job of it. Today the German Federal Republic has once again a thriving gay scene. Those recessive genes are popping out in full force.

Bent does begin right at the Night of the Long Knives where Ernst Roehm was killed and anyone whoever knew of him and his not so discreet gay lifestyle was done in. The long knives of Himmler's SS come calling that night on Clive Owen and his boyfriend Brian Webber because they've picked up a pretty young man who used to trick with Roehm. He dies quite gruesomely, but they escape.

Owen seeks aid from an old gay man who's called Uncle Freddie played by Ian McKellan who gives him some help, but whom Owen doesn't take some good advice from. McKellan has been very much deep in the closet, it's what's made him survive a society where homophobia is not just approved, but is now the law of the land.

After this the scene cuts to a train to Dachau and Dachau itself where Owen and Webber are taken. Webber doesn't survive the trip, that scene is something I don't want to reveal. Owen decides that he'll take the Jewish star of David rather than a pink triangle, in the Dachau pecking order gay is worse than Jewish.

Just as Schindler's List showed the dehumanization of Jews, Bent shows the dehumanization of gay people. Only there was no Oskar Schindler to save some of them. In fact sexuality as a form of repression has not ever been better displayed on screen than in Bent.

But Owen learns about gay pride from another prisoner, Lothaire Bluteau who wears the pink triangle in defiance. They find a connection and consummate that connection in the only way they can do it under the circumstances. Again a scene I can't reveal.

This film should not be missed by any Gay/Lesbian/Bi-Sexual/Trangendered person on this planet. It shows better than anything else what we potentially face in the way of repression when we are dehumanized by law and societal mores. We cannot let that happen and we have to make sure it's stopped in the places it does happen in the world.

And this review is dedicated to all the brothers and sisters who died back then. Here's hope for a better world for our next generation.

"Bent" is an interesting little Holocaust-film curio (based on a stage production) that looks at the death camps from a homosexual perspective. It is intermittently affecting overall, but has its moments of pretension and self-indulgence (the baroque, decadent opening in Berlin comes to mind); the film can't really shake its stage roots, either, as reflected in certain scene setups (Ian McKellen's cameo in the park feels especially artificial). While conflicted over "Bent"'s seesaw of moments both powerful and superficial, I wound up liking it. Max (Clive Owen) is a member of Berlin's decadent gay underworld before World War II; when the Germans invade, he is promptly shipped off to a labor camp. Along the way, he meets Horst (Lothaire Bluteau), a fellow prisoner who's homosexual; as the duo stacks rocks in blazing summer and freezing winter, they strike up an unconventional love affair (standing still during a 3-minute break every 2 hours, they make love verbally (and literally); these scenes are greatly affecting, with Owen and Bluteau fully convincing us of their passion. Several years before he became a household name, Owen really proved his capabilities here. Though "Bent" treads to an achingly symbolic conclusion, the effort--for the most part--is worth seeing the whole way through.

This is a must see film, that confronts prejudice against homosexuality in 1930s Germany. Unfortunately, it's extremely relevant today, as prejudice against the LGBTQ+ community faces increased prejudice again.

Adapted from a play, the film is exceptionally acted. There are moments that are difficult to watch, because of the cruelty.

Scenes in the concentration camp are brutal at times, yet it's doubtful they begin to scratch the surface of what prisoners actually endured.

Despite the discomfort, it's impossible to avoid feeling compassion and empathy for the protagonist characters, and pure loathing for the antagonist.

I don't want to give plot points away for those who may not be familiar with the material, but this is a must watch film. It seems to be an underrated film that should, rightfully, be considered a classic among future generations.

This film about a gay Jew being sent to a concentration camp just doesn't work very well as a film or at least this version doesn't work very well. It is 27 years since this was filmed and it is still the only theatrical feature film directed by Sean Mathias. Perhaps that is the problem, but it should have been better given that the screenwriter also wrote the play. It's a more fleshed out version of the play it's based on and despite my negative comments, it is not a terrible film. It is just a bit weak and reeks of being based upon stage material. It's an odd play that has some scenes that work much better on a stage than they do on film. The material it's based on is obviously sad, horrific and touching though everyone in it seems to be slightly overplaying their roles. There are scenes that are meant to be big moments that just ring a little false due to that and again it might be due to Mathias being primarily a stage director. Most seem a little bit more animated than they should be for a film. The two leads, Clive Owen and Lothaire Bluteau work hard to bring this to life and others are interesting including Mick Jagger in drag and a very young and gorgeous Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. This needs to be remade, but given the commercial failure of this along with what it's about, it'll be a very long time before that occurs.

This is a very powerful, striking movie, that once seen, will live with you, you won't be able to forget the scenes, events and the torment.

We have that vibrant start, with orgies, dancing, and a wonderful Mick Jagger... and then we get the true content of the film, the heart breaking story set inside the labour camp.

I think Clive Owen did an absolutely brilliant job in the role, he played the care free playboy incredibly well, so much sincerity in his performance.

It's very nicely made, the cinematography I thought was excellent, it looks fabulous.

Not a story too often told, but if you get a chance, watch it. 9/10.

... that means we can enjoy the fluff all the more! Jude Law: more nude scenes! Rupert Graves: you usually look good in anything (or nothing!), but BLACK is _tres_ _commes_ on you! Mick Jagger: Greta, dahling you were mah-velous singing "Streets of Berlin!" We loved it! Dachau: you should be ashamed of yourself! When a body sees a body a-comin' through the rocks (or DOESN'T see it, as the case may be), you should not admit impediment to the marriage of true minds. Sham

The premise grabbed me; it is about a gay man sent to the concentration camps during WWII. I was expecting some really good things from it, because it could have had an important message.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatement; it's a bad sign when I wished the SS would just shoot the main character and make it a movie about his boyfriend instead! I despised the main character...he was everything I could possibly dislike about a person all rolled up into one.

He's a multi-time cheater on the same person, a coke-head, a jerk, forces (unwelcome) decisions on other people...throw in some domestic abuse and you've just about covered it.

He's someone I'd be ashamed to know...needless to say, it was impossible to sympathize with his character. I'd compare him to Alex from A Clockwork Orange. Except he's supposed to be sympathetic somehow.

This film, based on the theatrical production, is a moving and powerful experience. It is both emotional and intense and its power moves even a cynic to tears. While hope bounds throughout the hopeless scenario, the overwhelming feeling is desperation and despair.

Though the settings are largely historically inaccurate, they convey the mood of the era precisely.

A must see for anyone in the GLBT community or anyone with an interest in the Holocaust.

Never forget.....NEVER AGAIN!

As I understand it, "Bent" was originally a stage production in London. I don't know how the stage production was, but the movie version doesn't come out as good as it could have. Portraying a gay man (Clive Owen) in Nazi Germany pretending to be Jewish and meeting another gay man in Dachau, the movie never really develops anything as much as it could. In fact, it seems like the movie never really looks thoroughly at what the Nazis were doing. Mick Jagger, playing a transvestite, is really the only reason to see the movie.

So, they probably had good intentions with this movie, but they never did with it what they could have. The whole thing comes out pretty muddled. Also starring Ian McKellen.

What can I possibly say about this movie that would not bring me to tears. This movie was very powerful and thought provoking. I just could not understand the hatred for human beings, just because of what religion, sexual orientation, or whether they had a big nose. I just can't for the life of me figured that out. I guess I will never figure it out.

There were some very strong scenes in this movie that tugged at my heart. The ridiculous killing of men and women for no apparent reason other than what I said above. The never ending work the prisoners did was just unspeakable. The conditions, and also the ever popular "no touching each other". The latter is the most difficult to endure for two gay men captured and put to work in the concentration camps. In one powerful scene, that I have to admit I watched over and over about five times, during one of Max and Horst's (main stars) rock moving extravaganza's, they are allowed a three minute rest period while working a twelve hour shift. They are not allowed to look at each other, they must stand up straight looking ahead (some rest period huh). Well without giving away the scene. They have what we would call very graphic and arousing phone sex. And I have to tell you, I was right there with them. This scene really brought these two prisoners much closer together and very much in love. It was beautiful.

I have a couple of things that bothered me in this movie. I really hated the way the SS men spoke to the prisoners. I mean, one word sentences like "You" - "Walk" - "Friend?" - or "Watching You". I mean for a people who claimed to be the superior race, these guys were not intelligent at all. Also the fake train outtakes that were obviously superimposed into the movie. The scenes themselves were in black and white which told the audience that they were not from the original film, but from some other movie.

Overall, this movie was profoundly incredible. It is a must see for everyone, no matter what the content of the movie - gays, murder, sex, SS men, Hitler's BS , concentration camps. You have to watch this movie with an open heart and mind to actually feel for these people, not just because they were two gay men in love and pain, because they were human beings first and foremost. 7.5 out **********. See it, you will not be disappointed.