[TrueFaith77]

Saint-Narcisse (Bruce LaBruce):

Notes on Saint-Narcisse:

5/9
@BruceLaBruce makes a new, unexpected, leap with #SaintNarcisse—drawing upon classical and Catholic imagery (Odysseus’ gambit with the Cyclops, Mother-and-son rhapsodies out of Michelangelo, Euripidean voyeurism, the piercing gaze of St. Sebastian) but with PoMo porno subversiveness (a nude in sneakers). If not quite a master sensualist like Bertollucci or Morel, he matches their transgressiveness and ascends here as North America’s premiere gay-cinema auteur because he challenges gay hegemony with history’s radical kernel of truth. Bra-f**king-vo!

9/17
So great to see the visual feast of @BruceLaBruce ‘s #SaintNarcisse on a big screen with a game audience. A second viewing reveals its brilliant structure (tripled incest) that combines Parent Trap farce with the melodrama of #DePalma’s Obsession (and much more).

Also clocked his erotic interpretation of the Visitation. More iconography to dive into, for sure. Don’t miss it, NYC! @BruceLaBruce #SaintNarcisse

Interestingly I’ve noted De Palma’s influence in the last 4 movies I saw. Malignant (De Palma reduced to an amusement park ride) and The Voyeurs (De Palma reduced to television), but also…

the camera dynamics of @JULIANHERPER #AsphaltGoddess (the Vertigo kiss in Body Double) and the 70s-style psychosexual melodrama of @BruceLaBruce #SaintNarcisse (the psychosexual casting gambits of Sisters and Obsession). Both films revitalize cinema’s essence. Viva #BrianDePalma!

Worth looking for the influence of De Palma in Bruce La Bruce’s Saint-Narcisse which explicitly references *Sisters and which the director also has explained is inspired by Obsession stylistically and in one key casting/plot point.

[Screenwriter’s response: We also put some Carrie references in there, notably on the subject of religious fanatism. Bruce and me share the same admiration for De Palma.

To which I responded: Ah! Saint Sebastian’s eyes are very Piper-Laurie-Christ eyes! Amazing!!]

9/18
Third time seeing the film remains a charm. From the Sticky Fingers opening shot to the radical wink at the end, @BruceLaBruce POV challenges the spectator to look deeply into family and culture in his new film #SaintNarcisse — now playing at @QuadCinema in NYC. Don’t miss it!

9/22
I got a sweet shout-out in Armond White’s eye-opening review of @BruceLaBruce #SaintNarcisse De Palma’s Sisters and Carrie resonate!

[From Armond White’s review: Critic John Demetry [ed. that’s me] pointed out a connection to De Palma’s Carrie (a great movie not generally appreciated for its profound satire of sexual-social-religious guilt) in the scene where an arrow-pierced Saint Sebastian statue (often a gay objet d’art) looks down, comically condemning a perverse supplicant.]