By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: James Franco | Travis Mathews
Starring: Brenden Gregory | Christian Patrick | James Franco | Travis Mathews | Val Lauren
Country: united_states
Year: 2014
Running time: 60
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2352488/combined
Bruce says: “Years ago there was a New Yorker cartoon with two old women on a bus. One was saying to the other, ‘the way I understand it is: if everyone in the world were stoned except for us, then we’d be the ones who were stoned.’ James Franco seems to have similar views about sex. I imagine he fantasizes that if most everyone were comfortable with the sexual aspects of life then the perverts would be those who weren’t. Franco comments that Hollywood eagerly shows people being blown up and killed but refuses to show gay sex on screen. He is fixated on the way that children are raised with only straight normative behavior as a guideline. ‘Sex should be a storytelling tool,’ claims Franco.
“INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR. is a short film about an attempt to reimagine (Franco is adamant about not using ‘recreate’) the forty minutes of missing footage from William Friedkin’s 1980 film CRUISING in which Al Pacino goes undercover gay into the seedy New York S & M bar scene. Supposedly those forty minutes contained footage of men actually performing sex acts. Franco’s friend Val Lauren is picked for the Pacino role; Brenden Gregory who starred in Travis Mathews’ short I WANT YOUR LOVE is one of the actors who is having actual sex on screen.
“The viewer eavesdrops into many discussions among the filmmakers and actors. James and Travis discuss their goals. Some of the actors discuss their fears. Val is clearly the centerpiece of the film. We overhear his phone conversations with his agent, ‘You’re doing the Franco faggot project?’ He worries about Val’s reputation. ‘At the end of the day anyone watching this will think that this pornography and you are in it.’ Val is more relaxed, ‘James has something to say and needs people to help him say it.’ Brenden is not at all nervous – he claims that this is the third time he has had sex on screen.
“Travis points out that there are some differences today that didn’t exist in the 1970’s when CRUISING was filmed. ‘Guys were always looking, not like today where people are always buried in their phones.’ What no one seems to notice is that all the men in INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR. have piercings and/or tattoos. That would not have been the case back in the day.
“In terms of Franco’s stated intentions, INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR. is moderately successful; however, clocking in at just about one full hour, it seems short of heft. My personal wish would have had the film end with the reimagined 40 minutes. I felt shortchanged with only a few minutes of the ‘lost footage’ on screen. 3.5 cats”