trailer: Test

Varie

CRITICA:

“Test” smartly sets the moody tale of a brooding loner against an historical backdrop, and then gives its characters real lives to lead. A dancer in 1985 San Francisco, Frankie (Scott Marlowe) is sick with an escalating sense of dread as the outbreak of the then elusive and unknowable AIDS virus begins to spread. He also feels the stress of his craft weigh down on him after his dance instructor tells him to make it look more “manly” even though the metaphoric choreography, with all its male musculatures on sweaty display, is totally gay.
The film’s ominous atmosphere — almost oppressively sinister at times — makes for an unsettlingly realistic look at the miasma of AIDS panic in San Francisco. The 80s were a time when no one knew what really caused the virus, how it was transmitted or how it could be treated. Every mole and skin blemish was suddenly a life or death matter, and the possible beginnings of Kaposi’s sarcoma, one of the telltale signs of the virus.
The lithe Marlowe and his staggering cheek bones give a nuanced performance as a relatable young gay man who isn’t some stock character out of the book of queer cinema. Like “Keep the Lights On” and “Weekend” — the two best English-language films about gay male life of this century, by the way — “Test” captures the rhythm of gay reality, the sloppy vacuity and fleeting fulfillment of one-night stands, spikes of self-loathing and a sense of freedom amid a sprawling urban anonymity. I couldn’t help but think of Agnes Varda’s “Cleo from 5 to 7,” because like Corinne Marchand’s character, Marlowe’s endures a series of life-affirming encounters in the time between taking the AIDS test and painfully awaiting the results. Director Chris Mason Johnson nails the period details of the 80s — the touch-tone phones, the Walkman that soundtracks Frankie’s jaunts through the city, the initial gay resistance to the condom — making for an authentic film about gay life. (Ryan lattanzio, Indiwire.com)

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Chris Mason Johnson’s film captures 1985, a time of uncertainty when no one knew how to react to an HIV test
There have been some essential movies on the early days of the AIDS epidemic, including Philadelphia, Parting Glances, Jeffrey, Longtime Companion, An Early Frost, As Is. It’s difficult to imagine a film bringing something new to the genre.
Thankfully, writer/director Chris Mason Johnson’s excellent, gripping, surprisingly funny and beautifully shot Test does just that.
Rather than focusing on death and dying, Test explores that fragile period in 1985 when we knew about AIDS but not how to respond and newspaper headlines proclaimed such things as “Should Gays be Quarantined?”
Enter Frankie (the superlative Scott Marlowe), a sensitive young dancer in San Francisco whose uncertainty and anxiety about the virus manifests in poignant and brutally familiar ways. He meets his match in man-whore Todd, another dancer who challenges Frankie’s concept of what it means to be safe in an unsafe world.
Both Marlowe and Risch offer rich, layered performances but also dance exquisitely to Sidra Bell’s primal choreography. Johnson’s skill is perhaps most evident in his patience; his storytelling takes its time, with lingering shots that allow both character and viewer to sit in any given moment. It’s a rare confidence and it pays off in satisfying ways. (Eddie Shapiro, Out.com)