a film by Susanna Edwards
2006 | 90 mins | Sweden
Mårten Klingberg .... Peter
Piotr / Pjotr Giro .... Nassim
Karin Bergquist .... Maria
Gösta Bredefeldt .... Juris
Ia / Maria Langhammer .... Rodite
Robert / Roberto Jelinek .... Kevin
Keillers Park
an accomplished homoerotic whodunit
Available on DVD as part of the
Peccadillo Pictures catalogue
www.peccadillopod.com
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Just when you think that you've seen every variant of the coming out scenario imaginable, along
comes a director who reminds you that there's life still left in the perennial favourite. Only
in this instance, Susanna Edwards has crafted an electrifying thriller around the well thread
theme of to thy ownself be true in the form of thirty-something Peter, a civil engineer
set to inherit the family business from a patriarchal figurehead rejoicing
in his sons' engagement to the beautiful Maria.
Only scratch below the surface and things are not always what they appear. For with his
fiancée out of town, Peter takes the opportunity to meet up with Algerian born Nassim, a
handsome and sexually confident gay man who caught his eye a few days ago and who now brings
out a hitherto repressed side of his nature. Only in embracing a gay lifestyle, it isn't long
before his sister, fiancée and father discover the reality of the situation; just as he
in turn comes face to face with the homophobic wrath of a family united in their disapproval
of his new found sexuality. Effectively fired, disinherited and ostracised, with his engagement
and career in ruins, his love for Nassim remains his sole reason for living. Yet when the
police come literally knocking at his door to arrest him for the murder of the man he
loves, is anything left for him to live for? Or is his growing unease during the
key interrogation scenes and subsequent suicide attempt, clear evidence
of the guilty mind of the Keillers Park killer?
For that is what makes this engaging feature stand out, given it keeps you guessing right to the
end over whether love did indeed turn to hate and hate to murder. Such is all the more gripping
given screenwriter Pia Gradvall based his work on a true story, one in which Edwards delights
in telling through meaningful, as opposed to overused, flashback sequences, subtle use of
black and white photography so as to highlight specific sections of the storyline and
keen attention to light and shade, with the lovers passionate embraces notably
bathed in the sun kissed elements of the spectrum.
Along the way, Edwards has assembled a fine cast who deliver solid performances throughout, with
leads Mårten Klingberg as Peter and Piotr / Pjotr Giro as Nassim brilliantly showcasing the
opposing sides of their characters' nature, as Nassim's carefree 'joie du vie' spirit and wish
to open a tabac in Paris, contrasts with the controlled routine of a man seemingly unable
or unwilling to break free from his banal existence. Namely a relationship
time bomb just waiting to explode.
That such an emotional outburst does eventually occur, is not surprising. But what does take
you unaware is the ingrained homophobia of the piece. For shunned by friends and family,
the open-mindedness of the Sweden of today seems far removed from the hostility of
both a society and a bigoted police force as represented here.
Then again, some may question whether one could sacrifice one lifestyle to gain another of
opposing sexual orientation in such a short space of time. Yet to do so is to question human
sexuality itself. But in depicting such, Edwards has mixed a cinematic cocktail of homosexual
love and self-discovery and in the process created an accomplished homoerotic whodunit, one
that is compelling from start to finish, handled as it is with considerable art house
flair. And whilst the ending may seem like a celluloid cop out, such is
tragically but a Gothenburg fact of life. Or rather death.
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