a short film by Samuel Park
2005 | 7 mins | US
Vincent Kartheiser .... Sebastian
Jordan Brower .... Aaron
Corin Amber Norton .... Annie
Shakespeare's Sonnets
a tender tale of gay affection
Available on DVD as part of the
Picture This! catalogue
www.picturethishomevideo.com
- ref. Boys Briefs 3
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Set in a prestigious Ivy League University, presumably Harvard in the late 1940s, this tender
tale of gay affection from writer and director Samuel Park in its own gentle way tells
the story of an erudite man of literature who is eager to help a fellow scholar
realise his homosexual self.
Only Sebastian is not doing his bit for gay liberation entirely without self-interest, given he
has the hots for the man himself. Then again, he's not the only one given Aaron's good looks,
wealth and social standing make him the perfect man about campus for girlfriend Annie.
Knowing that his is but a case of unrequited love, Sebastian takes refuge in spending
time with the object of his affection by way of discussions on life, moments
alone together in which he hopes to persuade Aaron to embrace both
his sexuality and his one true love.
Originally a one-act play and lately both a book and film short, this unobtrusively shot piece
charts in its brief seven minute time frame, the relationship between two men, one overtly
gay and the other of hetero façade who through literature, come to discover their love for
each other. And all is well with such, except for its name. For nowhere do Shakespeare's noted
love sonnets appear. Consequently the title of this work makes no sense without its exposition,
a scene that was ironically cut by Park over concerns for its duration. Although given how
many shorts I have seen that are in dire need of an edit, this is one that could well
have benefited by a few minutes being added in order to illustrate the title theme,
namely through their reading of the sonnets and investigation into their origin,
their love for each other becomes evident.
That said, Vincent Kartheiser of TV's ANGEL fame is every inch the Harvard dandy of the piece,
one in which no gaydar is required, whilst Jordan Brower who shone in Nickolas Perry's SPEEDWAY
JUNKY as a sweet gay hustler is nicely cast as a macho student who has questions over just how
close he wishes to experience English poetry and Greek love. Whether or not Sebastian gets close
to the man himself or sees him instead favour social conformity would be saying. Then again,
we do not get to know, as this short ends with only a hint of things to come. But then,
could this be a cinematic story to be continued, charting as-it-does a relationship
that blossoms courtesy of the words of the Bard, lines of love that
are clearly open to homoerotic interpretation.
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