A Very Natural Thing (25th Anniversary Edition)

After the shrill campiness of the movie adaptation of 1970's "The Boys in the Band" (which had the characters tearing each other down during the bulk of its running time), along came this more gentler study of gay life in 1973. This is probably the first mainstream film to deal honestly with gay love, friendship & relationships.The story centers on Jason, who has just left the priesthood because he couldn't balance his devotion to God with his sexuality. Moving to New York, he becomes a school teacher, quietly living out his life, and soon meets the handsome David at a gay bar. Delving into a passionate love affair & soon living together, time wears on. Later, the differences between the two men become more glaringly apparent: David is more casual & liberated, while Jason is intensely romantic & monogamous. David's discreet infidelities and their agreement to experiment to "spice things up" in their relationship succeed in undermining their stability, and they break up.Shortly after some quiet soul searching, Jason attends the local Gay Pride Festival & meets another handsome man, who has declared his homosexuality & emerged from a dissolved straight marriage. Once again, Jason delves into another passionate affair, but he is wiser this time around: He tells the man to just take things slow & simply enjoy each other's company. Jason assures him that this decision does not mean he likes him any less.A rather dated film in its depiction of bad hair, bad clothing, and bad disco music (which, in respect, it's powerless to change), AVNT manages to address some very real issues in relationships. Such issues are people's tendencies to expect "the perfect love" or the disillusionment that the other person can conform to our expectations.Some viewers might find the insertions of interviews with gays & lesbians during the Pride Fest to be an intrusive element to the story. I was slightly annoyed of the interruption, but also found the atmosphere functioning as an important time capsule of the earlier days of gay rights movements.The slow motion climax of the two lovers frollicking nude in the beach waves was sweetly moving, a symbol of them revelling in love & freedom.I was disappointed there were no extras; even an interview with filmmaker Christopher Larkin would've been nice.Although the film is not exactly superior in its cinematic scope, and has some rather stilted 70's dialogue, it is honest & often moving.

"A Very Natural Thing" is an important early gay film by a gay man documenting the gay scene of its time (early to mid 1970's). The documentary interviews are not as integral a part of the film as the director apparently thought, but that may be more apparent due to the passage of time since its release (1974). the human story told by the film comes out in the interaction of the characters as they search for what they want in life. The lesson of the film seems to be that at different portions of your life you want different things in your life. I don't know that I COMPLETELY agree with this view, but that seems to be what the story tells the viewer.Now the problems:1) The packaging & the info from IMDB / Amazon get the basic plot & identities wrong. In reality, the monk / schoolteacher is named David (not Jason), the advertising executive is named Mark (not David), & the photographer is named Jason. The official info says that the teacher & the ad executive learn to respect & love each other: in the film, however, they can't live with each other, and end up breaking up because living together causes too many problems and winds up being psychically toxic for the teacher. After that (& after giving up on trying to fix the relationship with the ad exec), the teacher meets / gets together with the photographer (who is not even mentioned in the official summation). He is this time reluctant to jump into a commitment with guy he's with, while leaving that possibility for the future (& admitting that it would be a possibility).2) The bathhouse scenes are visually pretty dim, & it is sometimes difficult to tell what's going on. That may be realistic and true to fact of the actual reality of the time, but it makes for difficult viewing. Since this is a psychically "dark" part of the plot, however, so it may help for it to have been filmed in dim light.In spite of the problems listed, the plot of the actual story still holds together to give some cautionary lessons: make sure where you stand before you commit to a relationship (& as best as possible, that you are both defining the relationship the same way), then work on problems TOGETHER as they come up after you commit to be with each other so that your life situation doesn't end up becoming psychically toxic for you. From my experience, that lesson is vital for all human sexual relationships, gay or straight!

Considering that this movie was made in 1975, I cannot help but be impressed at its candor and representation of gay men. Many commentators refer to the fact that the actors show both physical and sexual intimacy in a manner which was not common at the time, or for that matter common to this day. Indeed love between two men is shown to be tender, intimate and much like one would suspect most relationships to be. This is indeed worth mentioning considering that many modern versions avoid both physical and sexual intimacy between men for fear of 'offending' the general audience. This is somewhat ironic when considering that the audience is made mostly made up of gay men and women, who themselves are offended at the santisation of their relationships in queer media.The story centers around David, who left his life as a Monk (after conceding a theological conundrum) to become a teacher in a public school. In fact, he states to his lover that religion offered him two choices, neither of which were desirable to him. Notwithstanding which, David has very Calvinistic ideas of commitment, desire and relationships, unlike the many men he meets. These ideas ultimately conflict with those he commits to, as they unlike him are more interested in seeking the adventure of free love and sex without control. He attempts to settle down with Mark, after having met him in a gay bar, and for awhile lives the life of his dreams. Mark soon begins to resent the control, and seeks to bring more excitement into the relationship. He rebels against David's ideas of monogamy and ultimately resents the judgement he gets from David.Their relationship suffers as a result of this jarring conflict, and David has both his heart and illusions crushed. Unfortunately for him, this manifests in his future relationships, and his interaction with Mark is forever tainted by his sense of betrayal.Within the body of the movie are actual interviews with real life participants in the Christopher Street Pride Parade (1973) which make for superb viewing and historical context. Of some sadness to me is that it seems a great deal has gone backwards since then, and much of what those men and women have to say back then, is as relevant today (if not more so).The movie itself is deeply philosophical and its dialogue resonates with the audience in many ways. Ironically had the movie been made a few years later the entire premise would have changed, as HIV/Aids hit the scene and forever changed the way gay men and women interacted with each other.The quality is a little poor in some places, and whilst the actors are a little mechanical at times, they are both believable and sincere. The score was superb, interlacing classical with some 70's gems. The use of real life footage adds a real substance to the movie, which I do not believe was intentional but which gives the movie an important permanence.A must for every collection, especially considering its historical relevance and ever present commentary on today. Not bad for 1975.

10/10

Is okay.