Fantasia Film Review: Bag Boy Lover Boy
Before the movie started, Director Andres Torres gave a mini introduction of Bag Boy Lover Boy and the frustrations involved in the making of the film and sticking to its true form of the New York Underground film scene. In the late ’50s, “Underground film” began to describe early independent film makers, involving other large U.S. cities and around the world including Britain and Australia. The movement was exemplified by filmmakers by the names of Mike Kuchar, Stan Brakhage and Andy Warhol to name a few. Now, an underground film is a film that is not part of mainstream cinema either in its financing, style or genre. Bag Boy Lover Boy is an excellent example on creating a unique film on a low budget with developmental techniques and new wave themes.
Bag Boy Lover Boy revolves around Albert (Jon Wachter) a hot dog vendor who hopes to win the woman of his dreams, a reoccurring customer at his hot dog stand, Jackie (Kathy Biehl). Early into the film, Ivan (Theodore Bouloukos) introduces himself to Albert as a well-known New York photographer and offers him a life-altering career change from hot dog vendor to photographer, or so it seems. Reluctantly, Albert accepts and finds himself in the middle of a photo shoot involving a model, himself and a bag. It’s not your typical photo shoot unless fetish photography is what you like. Soon after the photo shoot, while Ivan is away on business, Albert starts luring girls to the studio and from there things unravel and becomes quite deadly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSmr7-bCWcg
Bag Boy Lover Boy is a dark, twisted horror film with comedic attributes. The film delves into an average dimwitted man’s mundane life, abruptly throwing him into a world of “art” — well his depraved idea of art in the sometimes raw, hostile New York City atmosphere. Throughout the film, Albert is being used by Ivan for reasons unknown to him, but he continues going to the studio with the promise of money and the promise that he is going to learn everything there is to know about photography and artistry. There are a few moments in the film where we are given the chance to see sequences in Albert’s mind which are both funny and borderline sadistic. In Albert’s deranged and delusional world, he truly believes he is an artist despite his lack of knowledge on women and art.
Bag Boy Lover Boy genuinely makes you laugh and cringe, quite often at the same time
Bag Boy Lover Boy screened at Fantasia on July 23rd, 19:15 at Salle J.A. De Seve.
