Victim

Back to the "Brit Noir" festival with Victim, from 1961, a rather bold look at homosexuality. In fact, it was the first English-language film to use the word homosexual, which made it quite controversial at the time (and got it banned in America for a while).

Directed by Basil Dearden, Victim stars Dirk Bogarde as a well-off barrister. At the beginning of the film we are plunged right into the story, and have to try to sort things out. A young man is in some sort of trouble, and keeps calling Bogarde, who will not take his calls. Eventually we realize the young man is gay--he thanks one of his friends for helping him, considering what he is, and the friend says, "it used to be witches. At least they don't burn you." The young man gets arrested, and has a scrapbook full of clippings about Bogarde.

What I liked most about the film is that it defies expectations. Instead of the young man trying to blackmail Bogarde, it turns out that he was himself being blackmailed, which Bogarde realizes, too late. And then, instead of Bogarde desperately trying to cover his tracks, he heroically takes a stand and tries to expose the blackmailers, at the risk to his own career. When his wife (Sylvia Syms) gets wind of it all, we are again surprised to learn that she knew all about Bogarde's proclivities, and he honestly tells her that though he loves her, he loved the young man he knew in college more.

The film does take a definite political stand, but in light of social changes over the last fifty years it can be seen as taking half measures. Several characters mention the law that outlawed homosexuality--men were being blackmailed because they feared prison--but at the same time homosexuality is also seen as some kind of quirk of fate. This is before any notion of gay pride--one characters refers to nature having played a trick on him. I think it must have been pretty daring for its time, though, especially having a police detective display sympathies for gay men.

Victim is beautifully shot in black and white by Otto Heller, but marred only by an overly dramatic music score by Philip Green.