From the director who gave us the delightful tongue-in-cheek work that is Dream Kitchen, comes this assured piece of short storytelling. Written by Audrey O'Reilly, it tells the tale of two Irish lads who tired of throwing stones at empty beer cans on a seaside railway embankment, up the stakes to a game of chicken.
Not that this is a game to play at home, given it consists of stabbing the gaps between the fingers of your friends outstretched hand with a sharp blade at an ever increasing speed, along the way trying to avoid cutting his fingers or worse. Daring his friend to be man enough to take part, Kev reluctantly places a nervous palm face down, only for his best friend Mick to surprisingly cover his fingers with his own on the if I slip, I get it first basis. As the sound of the knife hitting the ground gradually builds up to mirror the rapid motion of an approaching train, the blade slips and Mick accidentally cuts their hands ever so slightly. Only in doing so, could it be that the two have become more than just blood brothers?
And that is the underlying theme of this piece, given this work plays on its title, casting aside its domestic fowl / coward interpretations, to highlight the variant of a young gay man. For that is what is on offer here, namely a tale of two gay teens too afraid to show their feelings for each other, preferring instead to reveal such under the guise of violence and a game of dare that gives way to a climatic loving embrace.
Commissioned by the Irish Film Board under its SHORT SHORTS scheme, this well-observed work went on to premiere in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Winner of the Audience Award at the 2001 Dublin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, it has since gone on to receive the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Newport International Film Festival, together with a Special Commendation at the Barcelona Gay & Lesbian Film Festival of 2001. And yet this short is over almost before you know it, being three minutes that profoundly alters the relationship between two young men forever.
Was available on DVD as part of the dearly missed Picture This! catalogue - 'Boys Briefs #2' release.
screened as part of the 16th London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2002
From the director who gave us the delightful tongue-in-cheek work that is 