Sebastiane (1976)

Sebastiane

• I had zero awareness that this film existed up until a week ago, until I saw a Twitter review in passing, and I was like “oh, that’ll be worth a watch”, and let me tell you, it definitely is. It’s not anything generational, and definitely has a low budget quality to it, but it’s wildly beautiful. In terms of cinematography, it’s very average, and shot very much like any other 70s film. But when I say beautiful, I’m talking about the portrayal of the male body. Of course for me, I like it a lot because I’m wildly gay, but even from a straight perspective, this whole film is like one large painting: the directors are the brush, and the male bodies are the paint. Every scene felt like something you’d see on the wall of the Louvre. The nudity is prominent and in your face at times, but in an artistic way. I’m a strong believer in that the human body can be used positively to tell a story and show emotion. This film is a great example of that. To sum it up, it’s like if you put Michaelangelo behind the camera and tell him to make a movie. That’s easily the best part of the film. The plot felt a little slow and not full of too much substance, but there’s still several scenes that I was entranced by. There’s so much depiction of pure male love, while still showing the power dynamics of the time. I’ll also say this: I definitely didn’t catch everything that was happening, mostly because I watched this on YouTube, and it didn’t have English subtitles. So I had no idea what anyone was saying, but as long as you read the premise on Letterboxd, it still makes sense completely. That’s really all there is to say about this. It’s certainly not a masterpiece, but it’s a very underrated film that uses physique to tell a story, to demonstrate love, and give a quick history lesson. I’ll definitely revisit it in the future, and I would recommend it to most erotic drama fans. Think of it kind of like ‘Querelle’ mixed with ‘Salò’. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!