Bene Cumb
Gay lust/love and decadence in Berlin, Jews-Nazis-concentration camps - all intriguing elements, a good basis for developing a tense narration where different aspects of human nature move to the surface. The story can be roughly divided into 2 parts, different by mood - before arrest and after it. Although the 1st one has menacing circumference as well, events in the secretive club (including nice performance by Mick Jagger) are in total contrast with miseries in Dachau where gays and Jews were the lowest strata, suffering most hardships. The 2nd part includes the strongest scenes of the film where the 2 protagonists (splendidly performed by Clive Owen and Lothaire Bluteau) have to stand attention... The ending was, unfortunately, predictable, and not all scenes have equal significance for the progression of the script. Nevertheless, unless you are uncomfortable with "different" approaches on "known" events, then Bent is definitely for you; plus I think that Clive Owen should be used more in profound drama films - he did a great job here.
goatyhead
I love historical dramas. This subject matter is very rarely talked about. Jews, poles, gypsies and other undesirables were all brutally exterminated. Homosexuals are very rarely talked about. So this subject matter seemed very interesting. From the start the movie seemed like it was going to be a musical, and i almost turned it off. Then it seemed to try to be a rip off of "party Monsters" but set in pre ww II Germany. The action seemed to get better and the story line started to develop. However the acting and the plot just falls apart, into something predictable and bland. The whole movie seems like someone who wrote a high school play was suddenly given a big movie budget but decided to keep it in a play format.
Gordon-11
This film is about the experience of two gay men who got imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp.The film is minimalistic, but it is very touching. The most striking thing to me is the amount of time dedicated to moving rocks. It is dry, dull and boring, which reflects what life was probably like in a concentration camp. Another striking aspect is that the concentration camp completely changes Max. In the beginning of the film, Max indulges in carnal pleasures. As the film progresses, he becomes satisfied with imagination. The most touching thing in the whole film is the ending. He is finally allowed to touch Horst, but it is all too late.Bent is a touching film, and I hope it can reach out to a wider audience.
tonymurphylee
Clive Owen plays Max, a loose, carefree, and cowardly playboy who is caught by Nazis along with his gay partner and shipped off to the Dachau concentration camp to do hard labor. He pretends to be in the yellow star unit meaning that he is Jewish instead of the pink triangle unit meaning that he is gay. But he meets a member of the pink triangle named Horst who he befriends and begins developing feelings for as they work day after day moving rocks from one place to another. The film is based on a play of the same name that gained much critical acclaim and won many awards. One viewer may realize this very quickly upon watching this movie as the film does feel quite staged. film works as a message film, the message being "be yourself". The film nails this concept pretty much solidly. Unfortunately, there are some distractingly bad flaws here. As I mentioned earlier, the film is incredibly staged. The film doesn't feel like reality. There are scenes that are so stage like in execution, it almost incites an unintentional laugh. There's even a scene of violence that feels extremely prepared and strangely very dance like. It's really too bad because there are some fantastic scenes herein. There is an orgy scene early in the film that is full of erotic passion and beauty. There are some harrowing scenes that take place on the train that are pretty disturbing. And there is an early scene involving Mick Jagger that is pretty interesting. Overall, even though it's interesting, moving and well acted, it's a poor film. There are some undeniably powerful scenes, but there isn't enough there for me. I recommend it if it sounds interesting to you. Just be prepared for some really sloppy directing.
AD
