a short film by David Färdmar 2008 | 20 mins | Sweden ›› My Name is Love - aka: Love an insightful work on the issue of male rape. With a spoiler warning firmly in place, let’s cut to the chase. For this well-executed short from writer and director David Färdmar is an insightful work on the issue of male rape and how acts of sexual violation need to be reported, when a NO should be a NO. Yet into what is in effect the tale of a young gay literature student getting picked up by man intent on forcing his way on another man for the night, Färdmar has added a series of telling points. For a start neither of the men is playing it by the book, both being only too keen to mask the true nature of their same-sex inexperience with a series of sexual exaggerations. And it is this foundation of falsehoods that Färdmar builds upon, contrasting a man only too keen to play away from home when his girlfriend is out-of-town, with the character of a shy young student clearly searching for a soul mate, being Love by name and love by nature. Told by way of a series of lengthy flashbacks, the most disturbing aspect of this well played short, is the fact that it is not a work of fiction. Rather it is based on the true story of the brutal male rape of a friend of the director. For like the Dean Francis short Boys Grammar that equally shone the cinematic spotlight on the shocking reality of sexual assault, specific scenes here by way of their very nature, make for uncomfortable viewing. And yet the final frames of this film equally bear witness to the fact that many victims hesitate at reporting such inhumane acts to the police. That men of both gay and straight sexual orientations prefer to suffer in silence, makes this hard-hitting drama an all the more poignant piece. Sidenote: Färdmar is currently writing the script for a feature length version of My Name is Love, the working title of which is The Way to Your Heart. Gay Visibility - overt.  Nudity - not for the faint-hearted.  Overall - file under ... 4 stars.  available on DVD as part of the Peccadillo Pictures catalogue 'Boys on Film 4: Protect Me from What I Want' release screened as part of the 24th London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2010 starring: Adam Lundgren, Jonas Rimeika, Alicia Vikander, Johan Carlberg, Poyan Karimi Copyright 2010 David Hall - www.gaycelluloid.com. archive reference #285 ›› previous page | back to top | print me ‹‹