(2011, 101 min)
Country: U.S.
Director: Eldar Rapaport
Studio: Wolfe Releasing
SYNOPSIS: With the style of a European art filmmaker, director/co-writer Eldar Rapaport tells the story of a gay love triangle by using innovative edits, a beautiful (frequently naked) cast and an exploration of how we find our life’s love.
REVIEW:
Filmmaker Eldar Rapaport’s short films Steam (a highly controversial, surreal thriller which you can find on the compilation Fest Selects: Best Gay Shorts) and Postmortem were both film festival hits. His feature debut August is a truly creative approach to the classic love triangle.
At the start of the film, Jonathan (Daniel Dugan) and Raul (Adrian Gonzalez) form what appears to be a happy couple in L.A. However, Jonathan retains his own apartment and has an air of the unresolved adolescence about him. Raul, an Argentine immigrant in a green card marriage, is the more grounded of the pair and holds a job as a bartender as he awaits his final work papers. Troy, after spending a few years in Spain, forms the third corner of the triangle when he returns to the City of Angels. Troy is trouble: he’s the man who broke Jonathan’s heart and, we soon learn, is still in Jonathan’s blood.
Using time jumps, creative editing and a lack of black and white answers, the filmmaker represents the story as life itself really is: full of difficult decisions, broken hearts, memories that flash into our consciousness, and the knowledge that true love is out there somewhere.
-- Scott Cranin, TLA Video (http://www.tlavideo.com)
