Lakki… The Boy Who Could Fly (1994) + Sebastian (aka Nar alla vet/1995)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Films: C/C+

 

 

Svend Wam tried to make his mark with a Gay Male Cinema in Sweden since the 1970s, with two of his latter films adaptations of the writings of Per Knutsen.  Not having seen his earlier films, it is hard to tell if he is a problematic filmmaker or that this these films are limited by the source material, but both Lakki… The Boy Who Could Fly (1994) + Sebastian (1995) are surprisingly limited and flat looks at young gay males that do not add up.

 

Lakki is the dark tale of a young, clean-shaven, blond pretty boy who is abused by many around him, walks around naked often (or in tight briefs) and eventually becomes a drug-addicted male hooker.  The film becomes a sort of sick fantasy for other gay males, especially the kind who seek younger males as playthings.  Wam is a bit too interested in his subject (Anders Borchgrevink) to tell the story with any realism or edge.  Wam even adapted the book, but the film has no point and is as odd as it is exploitive.  If he is trying to say something, that is a mystery and a big if.  When Lakki starts growing potential wings, his wearing clothes always looks odd as if he is overdressed and maybe even over-accessorized.  See it at your own risk.

 

Sebastian was made a year later and is about the title character (Hampus Bjorck) trying to deal with his homosexuality.  His friends supposedly know he is gay, but none of them tell him they know.  What kind of friends are these?  Questionable and condescending.  He eventually finds himself drawn to Ulf (Nicolai Cleve Broch) and they start to get friendly physically, though with strange limits.  They kiss, yet when they are in a bathtub (which happens to be larger than just about any tub anyone you know owns), they don’t have sex.  Wam’s screenplay is again that problematic and the overall story is so lite and shallow that it feels like Sweden’s gay answer to Milli Vanilli with the added dangerous myth that if a gay man comes out, he will be embraced and gay bashing (and worse) could never possibly happen.  If anything, it is potentially a route more likely to lead to Lakki’s fate, “flying” notwithstanding.

 

The letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image on both discs are detail and depth limited, with some aliasing errors and color that is slightly problematic.  Both are watchable.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 on both are barely stereo, even with Sebastian being a Dolby analog release.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo