Todd Verow is one of the most audacious independent queer filmmakers working today. The writer, director, producer, editor of the controversial adaptation of Dennis Cooper’s Frisk, the sexy and provocative Anonymous, and the superb coming-of-age film, Vacationland – now has two DVDs out this week – Hooks to the Left and Bulldog in the Whitehouse. Both films will challenge viewers, but they also signal an exciting and bold new direction for this visionary gay filmmaker.
Hooks to the Left is Verow’s hypnotic, experimental film, shot entirely on a NOKIA cell phone. Featuring pixilated images of bodies and landscapes, the narrative is provided by Michael John Dion’s voice over which describes the oral history of Nail, a hustler with a cock that is 9” cut, and “hooks to the left.” While the visuals do not sync up to the voice - a narrative description of a blow job is matched to a sequence in a train station - Verow forces viewers to pay attention to the words and images and create their own connections between what is seen and heard. This may require extra concentration for most audiences, but the film is quite satisfying, and as it is filled with shots of men naked on all fours, as well as descriptions of sexual encounters, the right (filthy-minded) audience will be spellbound.
Bulldog in the Whitehouse is even more striking and perhaps as experimental despite a more traditional narrative framework. Taking his cue from Pierre Choderlos de Laclos epistolary novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Verow shrewdly re-imagines this story of romance and power setting it in Bush’s White House and featuring a gay male cast (plus one female, playing the First Lady). In the process, he has created a stunning erotic satire.
The film opens with a narrator indicating that the authenticity of what is about to unfold cannot be proven, and that the reports, from various sources, should be treated as fiction. This is an appropriate warning, as one that follows about the characters being “so evil and unredeemable, without any semblance of reality.”
Bulldog (Verow) is a hustler who could potentially bring down the government. (Think Jeff Gannon). He is hired by Karl Rove, a.k.a “Turd Blossom” (Theodore Bouloukos), for his sexual services, and used as a journalist for the administration’s ministrations. Bulldog courts the Press Secretary (Jono Mainelli), who understands his lover’s bad reputation and appreciates his honesty about it. Their affair might turn into something like love – if there was not so much scheming involved. The Press Secretary, however, fails to heed the warning about Bulldog, that “Every man who has been involved with him has come to regret it.”
Meanwhile, The President (Bryan Safi) and Rove conspire to leak a CIA name, mislead the American people about the war in Iraq and WMDs, and hide the President’s affair with Bobby (Michael Burke). When the President asks for counsel about his homosexual leanings, he is advised, “You can do it, but not condone it.”
It should be noted that as biting as “Bulldog in the Whitehouse” is, Verow’s film is a bit of an acquired taste. As a filmmaker, he works in digital video on an ultra low budget. He shoots primarily in close-up, and the acting can be very stilted. In fact, the emotional component of the film may be reduced for viewers, because the acting is (deliberately) flat.
Although the effect appears to be amateur, it is actually quite artful. There is a fantastic sequence in which Bulldog and Rove are talking and the image shifts as if the camera needs to fix its vertical hold. Likewise, a scene in which one character gives an extended, impassioned speech about patriotism and fascism, while Bulldog lies naked in the background and fireworks explode in the foreground, provides this film with a tenuous link between sex, politics and Americana. Verow’s message is pretty unmistakable, and certainly appreciated.
Verow also features copious nudity and eroticism in his work, often bravely appearing completely naked himself – such as in an extended shower scene in which he and Bobby have a conversation and embrace. In addition, there are several passionate sex scenes between Bulldog and the Press Secretary – one even features rimming, such are the boundaries crossed by this daring film. Yet a scene in which the two men get off without any nudity being shown may be the film’s most erotic.
Significantly, Verow draws the dots between sex and power closely. When Bulldog tops the Press Secretary and later The President, it justifies the line about “getting fucked by [Bulldog] is better than fucking with him.”
Of course, Verow’s unorthodox film is not for everyone. Purists may carp at the bastardization of the text, and the inclusion of extended sex scenes could turn off those looking for a cheeky political parody. But Bulldog in the Whitehouse, like Hooks to the Left, is a daring, highly original work, showcasing the talents of a remarkable queer filmmaker.
