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AN INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP
Written, Directed, and Produced by Angela Evers Hughey
Edited - Sharri Weinberg
Director of Photography - Jessica GallantFaygan - Lisel M. Gorell
Danielle - Stacy Marr
Kelly - Rini StarkeyThe insert for the DVD of Angela Evers Hughey's AN INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP sums up the focus of this movie nicely, "what you do if your best friend told you she was gay?"
In college, I had friends coming out of the closet seemingly every other day. My reaction was to immediately establish sexual boundaries on all those friendships, and to then go through as many women as I could to reaffirm my own heterosexuality.
Pathetic.
I love those friends dearly. They know that now. Maybe not then, but they do now. They also know I still haven't gotten over my homophobia 100%. But that's my problem, not theirs.
Life would be so much easier if "acceptance" was a more readily accessible mindset; being able to differentiate between what are really our own problems and issues, and what aren't. Those that aren't shouldn't have much effect on us at all, so why should we care? And why the hell does someone else finding emotional security upset anyone else? We, as friends, should be happy and supportive.
But often, we aren't.
In AN INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP, Danielle's babysister Kelly reacts equally as foul as I did, if not more so. When Danielle reveals her sexual orientation in a moment of frustration, feelings of betrayal are pushed forward into the open by hidden insecurities. Kelly's own self-doubt gives way to misplaced anger and hostility, and she lashes out.
You can't blame Kelly for how she handles the news. We all have defense mechanisms. Kelly's are triggered not by the bombshell itself so much as in the fact that Danielle let it become a bombshell. She feels as if her own sister, someone who should be as closer to her than anyone, didn't believe in her enough to confide.
Faygan, Danielle's friend since childhood, takes the news differently - she becomes physically sickened. Again, it's not by the news, but rather her own sexual flirtations coming to the surface. Faygan wants the freedom and liberation Danielle awarded herself by voicing her sexual preference, something Faygan has long since convinced herself contrary.
AN INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP is really Danielle and Faygan's story of sexual self-awakening, but the more interesting story developments revolve around Kelly. Kelly's a woman-child who can't face the fact that her big sister is someone different than who she previously believed. Her attempts at humiliating her sister are petty and pathetic, nothing more than ignorance-fueled spite, but they stimulate the film's emotional core and help provide both the creation and resolution to much of the film's drama.
This near existentialist take on life is Hughey's best element as a filmmaker. As members of the human race, we can only do so much to control the elements around us and create a sense of security. It's how we deal with those events that define who we are. As a writer, Hughey understands this. She also knows that the most interesting characters are ones full of contradictions. Take Kelly, she's quick to chastise Danielle's growth from heterosexual promiscuity to homosexual monogamy. In reality, this is nothing more than a cry to justify her own ease of virtue.
That sounds familiar.
The DVD from Spectrum is the single barest disc I've seen from a major distributor, and a major let down in that regard. All viewers receive is the movie, chapter-free, and the movie's trailer. No other Spectrum trailers. No behind the scenes documentaries. No commentary, which is a shame. A movie of this depth should really have discussion. Not that the movie doesn't speak on it's own terms, or that a director needs to explain their work, but to help inspire discussion amongst the viewers. Then again, if this movie doesn't leave you talking, let alone doing a little soul searching, then it wasn't for you.