Un Chant d'Amour film review

›› Un Chant d'Amour - A Song of Love ‹‹

a short film by Jean Genet.

1950 | 25 mins | France.

the most influential gay short film in European history.

Dave says:

As a prison warden (André Reybaz) arrives for work, he witnesses a bouquet of flowers being tossed from the hand of one convict, to the outstretched hand of another. Intrigued by what he saw, he decides to investigate.

Such was but a narrative ploy by which noted French novelist Jean Genet would come to film what has since become the most influential gay short film in European history. It charts the 'not so private' moments of a group of prisoners, who escape from the reality of their incarceration by way of dance, self-relief, together with a quick smoke between jailbirds, courtesy of a straw pushed through a hole in the dividing wall. Such is the intensity of their self-expression, that not all are aware that their actions are being observed by said prison warden, by way of the peep hole in the cell door.

Such acts however are too much for this voyeuristic guard to bear, who enters the cell of an older Algerian looking man intent on venting his pent-up frustrations on his helpless captive. Yet even when subjected to a vicious beating, the man does not surrender his unconsummated love for his adjacent and much younger tattooed cellmate, as a series of interlinked fantasy sequences set the story free from its solitary confines.

In short, this is a work all about the love that at the time of filming and for all too many years thereafter, was strictly taboo. No surprise then that this pioneering classic of gay cinema was originally screened to a select few. Such was its success on the underground film circuit of the day, that a theatrical release was called for, one that and given the strict moral values of the time, was subject to years of censorship and an outright ban in city after city on the grounds of gross obscenity.

Yet and in as much as the narrative is a dramatic mix of emotions that range from the basic human need for company, communication and love, to the act of imprisonment itself and therein the authoritarian power to suppress a person's liberty and personal freedom, there's no denying the homoerotic and indeed pornographic nature of its content. That said and even when devoid of such, this remains a proudly gay to the core work; namely the 'sexual perversion' that the good folk of America would not accept.

Too hot for the 1950s, it would still prove controversial over a decade later, when a March 1964 New York screening was subject to a police raid and the citation that the organizer deserved to be "shot in front of the cinema screen for dirtying America."

That this work was not the only short film of the period that was proud to show homosexuality for what it was, goes without saying, with Kenneth Anger's uncompromising depiction of the ever present danger of cruising for sex that is Fireworks / 1947, being a clear example. Unlike Anger who repeatedly returned to his film after its initial release, this song of love was to suffer the ultimate indignity of being later disowned by its creator on the grounds that he was embarrassed by its crudity. But then, by the mid-seventies Genet had reached "a far more sophisticated plateau of artistic expression."

Genet died in Paris in 1986 and by all accounts, wished for this short film to die with him. Thankfully the British Film Institute ignored his wishes, having lovingly restored it to its cinematic glory, complete with a sublime score from former Derek Jarman collaborator Simon Fisher Turner.

Ahead of its time - undoubtedly. Pornographic in its day - definitely. A landmark in gay cinema - a resounding yes. For in spite of being only twenty-five minutes in duration, filmed in black and white and originally silent throughout, this poetic vision of love behind bars is unapologetically GAY. Yet it remains the sole celluloid legacy of Genet, being in effect a frustrating insight into what could have been, had this celebrated author, playwright and poet continued with the film medium. Regrettably, he never stood behind the camera again.

›› featured as part of THE GAY CONNOISSEUR catalogue: GAY CLASSICS video release / UK.

›› revised: Tuesday, 1st July, 2025.

Gay Visibility - overt | Nudity - sexually explicit | Overall - file under ... 4 stars

›› archive reference #095 - revised ‹‹

donations are the lifeblood of Gay Celluloid;
every drop helps keep it online - thank you :)