FILM

AIDS, Anger of ’92 Return in Remastered Classic
Director Gregg Araki says the raw, punk-rock energy of his controversial ‘The Living End’ holds up. The hot factor  hasn’t faded either.

By Christopher Wallenberg
Friday, April 25, 2008

When Gregg Araki’s seminal queer film “The Living End” burst onto the scene at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival, it landed with the force of an atom bomb, confronting the then-raging AIDS crisis with an angry, defiant attitude that stood in stark contrast to the way the disease (and its mounting death toll) had been treated in mainstream films of the era such as “Philadelphia” and “Longtime Companion.” Inspired by lovers-on-the-lam movies like “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Gun Crazy,” Araki fashioned a protest film that was groundbreaking for its fearless politics and raw, in-your-face depiction of gay male sexuality.

The postmodern love story revolves around a pair of desperate young outcasts living on the edge of oblivion. Jon (Craig Gilmore) is a cynical freelance writer who’s just found out he’s HIV positive. Luke (Mike Dytri) is an aimless, carefree drifter—also HIV positive—with a “fuck the world” attitude. When the volatile Luke runs afoul of the law, the two young homos—with literally nothing to lose—set off on an increasingly unnerving and reckless road trip into the hostile, quasi-surrealistic dark heart of America, populated by lesbian serial killers and vicious gay-bashers.

Exploring the fatally romantic consequences of gay male attraction in the early ’90s, and its attendant feelings of fear, isolation and despair, “The Living End” sparked intense reaction and debate from audiences and critics, but was generally lauded for its bold originality and singular vision. Furthermore, it helped usher in the movement that came to be known as New Queer Cinema, or the Queer New Wave, and established Araki as a maverick filmmaker to be reckoned with.

Araki followed “Living End” with other queer landmarks like “Totally Fucked Up,” “Nowhere” and his most acclaimed film to date, the 2004 adaptation of the Scott Heim novel, “Mysterious Skin.” For the newly remixed and remastered edition of “The Living End,” which was just released on DVD, Araki cleaned up the original 16mm print, remixed the soundtrack and re-color-timed the film. Here, he looks back on his breakthrough effort, which still feels as punk rock as ever, and discusses raging against the machine in the era of ACT-UP as well as the legacy of the Queer New Wave.

What was your reaction to watching the film again when you began preparing the DVD remaster?

I hadn’t seen the film in years. So it was very much like stepping into a time capsule. Even though it was only 16 years ago, the society and culture we lived in was completely different. So the film was very much a product of the time and the age when it was made, and an important document of that time. It was made during a period when the AIDS epidemic was kind of running rampant and people were literally just dropping dead in the streets.

I think it’s hard for younger people today to even imagine what that time was like. There’s kind of this weird disconnect in terms of this newer generation being able to understand what it was like to be 25 years old and think about dying every day of your life. The film really captures so much of the raw emotion of that time, and I was kind of startled by the rawness [when I watched it again]. I think that’s indicative of the cathartic nature of the movie. I am amazed how well the film has held up.

What were you were trying to express in the film in terms of the AIDS crisis?

AIDS is still obviously a big problem in society, as is homophobia, but it has changed so much from the period that “The Living End” captures. The film itself was very much an expression of my feelings  about what was going on in America in the late ’80s and early ’90s—the AIDS crisis and the government’s lack of funding and lack of real acknowledgement or mobilization to the crisis. There was so much apathy [by the government] towards AIDS, because it was sort of seen as this problem of gay men or poor black communities. And that resulted in a lot of people being very angry and very pissed off. So the film was really about those feelings of confusion and uncertainty and anger.

That angry, in-your-face attitude did not endear the film to everyone. Although “The Living End” didn’t spark the kind of vitriol that was spewed by Sen. Jesse Helmes and other conservative members of Congress upon the release of Todd Haynes’ “Poison” the year before, many people, including many gays, were disturbed or put off by “Living End.”

At the time it came out, it was controversial. It became the center of this cultural storm. People intensely loved it or intensely hated it, and there was a lot of passionate debate and argument around it. Part of it was that the movie was very un-PC. At the time, AIDS was being treated in this very polite and respectful sort of way, in TV-movie-of-the-week-type films like “Philadelphia” and “Longtime Companion”—these very sincere, heartfelt stories of grief and loss. Whereas “The Living End” was such an angry movie and very punk rock. And as a filmmaker, I’ve always been very influenced by punk rock and alternative culture. So the film really ruffled a lot of people’s feathers.

In those days, the representation of queer culture was much more polite, so some of the older generation gay audiences considered it gauche. I mean, in terms of the film’s sexiness—these two hot guys making out—everything about it was very in-your-face in a way that hadn’t been seen before. By contemporary standards, it’s very mild. But in 1992, it really upset some people. So it was kind of groundbreaking in terms of its hotness [laughs].

As much as these two guys are embroiled in this desperate, radioactive love—an intense passion and volatility—there’s a distinct tenderness and compassion between them that you also very much feel.

Yeah, for all its sort of anger and punk-rock chaos, I think of the film as ultimately being a romantic movie—as those couple-on-the-run movies like “Bonnie and Clyde” always are. They are always based on this l’amour fou that consumes the protagonists.… I’ve had several people tell me that the movie turned them gay. [Laughs.] That they were actually in a relationship with a woman, and the movie sort of pushed them over the edge. The movie had a big impact on a lot of people. As a filmmaker, you kind of can’t hope for more than that.

Were the characters inspired by specific people in your own life?

There’s a lot of my personal life in the film, but it’s not autobiographical and it’s not based on anybody specific.

You were never involved in a mutually destructive, explosive relationship, à la Luke and Jon?

[Laughs.] I think we’ve all been involved in the dysfunctional relationship with the hot bad person you shouldn’t be with. But it was never to that extent where we were like robbing convenience stores. [Laughs] But yeah, there is a little relationship history in there.

Along with other likeminded gay films like Todd Haynes’ “Poison” and Tom Kalin’s “Swoon,” “The Living End” was part of the film movement dubbed by critic B. Ruby Rich as the Queer New Wave, or New Queer Cinema. What provoked these films and this movement? Why do you think they happened to bubble up at the same time?

It was this coalescing of various factors. For those of us who were gay, that was a time of great social and cultural upheaval. AIDS really pushed these issues of gay rights to the forefront because gay people were struggling with our position in society and dealing with discrimination and homophobia and anti-gay crazies like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. So there was a lot of cultural pressure. That’s when ACT UP and Queer Nation started, and the younger gay generation began fighting back, with people marching in the streets and really expressing their despair and anger and frustration. So for those of us who were filmmakers, making movies became our way of expressing ourselves when it came to these issues and ideas.

Do you think you have a specific gay sensibility as a filmmaker? Has your sexuality informed the making and writing of your films?

My sensibility has been shaped by a lot of things—one of which is my sexuality. But I think I’ve also been profoundly influenced by music and alternative culture and every movie I’ve ever seen, from Hitchcock to Godard. Being gay is just one of the things that has influenced me. But I think it’s a positive influence in that it puts you outside of the mainstream culture, which I think makes you more of a challenger as opposed to being...one of the sheep. [Laughs] So artistically, I feel it’s a good place to be.

“The Living End” was really very much a guerilla filmmaking project for you, from everything I’ve read. What do you think has changed about independent filmmaking today?

I think that it’s really up to this next generation of Todd Haynes and Rick Linklaters and Gus Van Sants to take these new technical tools and make interesting movies. It’s never been easier to make [a film]. The problem is: There are a lot of young filmmakers who really want to make movies, but most of them don’t have much to say.

What project(s) are you working on next?

I’m working on a bunch of things right now. I haven’t shot anything yet. But I have a couple of things that are hopefully going to be shot very soon. I usually work on about four or five things at the same time, and then see which one can get off the ground and get financing. They’re varying sizes and varying genres. One of them is a horror movie. And there are a couple that are more Lynchian-style mysteries. They’re all very cool. I’ve been doing this for so long, that I don’t really like to talk about a movie until it’s actually happening. So we’ll see what happens. I’m really excited about all of them.

“The Living End: Remixed and Remastered”(Strand Releasing) is out now on DVD.

about us

© 2008 |  HX Media, LLC  | Privacy Policy