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Saturday, Jul 05, 2008
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Interviewing the stars of The Living End |
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| Interviewing the stars of The Living End | ||
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by Gary M. Kramer -
SGN Contributing Writer The Living End, Gregg Araki's 1992 feature, heralded the "New Queer Wave." A landmark film in independent Queer cinema history, this story of two HIV+ guys who hit the road - and embark on a crime spree - was buoyed by Araki's exciting, anarchic spirit and "fuck the world" attitude. The story concerns Jon (Craig Gilmore), a Gay film critic who learns in the opening moments that he has tested positive for AIDS. One night, he meets Luke (Mike Dytri), a sexy, cocky and HIV+ bad boy who carries a gun and likes to fuck. The film has just been "remixed and remastered" by Araki and producer Marcus Hu and released on DVD, and the result is extraordinary. The film - shot for $20,000 - looks better than ever, even if there are some dramatic qualities that seem dated in this age of the internet, cell phones and digital video. But The Living End was a watershed film for almost everyone who saw it upon release, and a defining moment in the lives of actors Gilmore and Dytri. In separate interviews, the two leads each spoke about making the film. "Araki was saying something nobody ever said, and his was an original voice," enthuses Gilmore over the phone from Los Angeles about the film's Queer appeal. "He was talking for so many people who had no voice. They were hearing it here." Gilmore, who is openly Gay, was inspired to make the film after he learned a former lover of his died of AIDS. (He himself tested negative). "I was like a Holocaust survivor. I don't know how I survived when so many people didn't," he says. "The script hit me in such an incredibly deep place." Yet the risks for coming out as an actor - long before such a practice was acceptable in Hollywood, or even the indie film world - were high. Gilmore explains that being openly Gay and starring in what was then a high-profile indie Queer film was a double-edged sword. "To be interviewed as an openly Gay actor was incredibly vindicating and it felt amazing and fulfilling, but at the same time it was incredibly limiting. After the film, all I [was offered] were Gay parts and most of the characters are stereotypes. Jon in The Living End was an original part, with original dialogue. It made anything else that came my way look really trite." Gilmore describes his experience making the film as comparable to that of an Olympic athlete who has an incredible peak at a young age and then has to move on to something else. The actor quit the acting business after two years and recreated himself as an opera singer. He is currently the lead tenor with a company that travels all over the world. Yet the actor does not regret the experience of making the film - quite the contrary. He is proud to have been part of a small, historic film that touched so many people's lives and, as he says, "played a meaningful role in the social evolution of our society." And while Gilmore jokes that Jon is the character people relate to, his co-star Dytri is the one "everyone salivated over." He adds, "Mike and I are such completely opposite personality type, but we had this instant energy." The film is chock-full of intimate moments between the two men, and the way Araki frames the guys' faces touching is as erotic as their encounter in the shower where Luke instructs Jon, "When I start to come, choke me&" For his part, Mike Dytri, who is straight, was more interested in the controversial aspect of the film than about the challenge of playing Queer. And while Dytri kept the film secret from his surfing buddies, he says he received accolades for taking the part and having the courage to play a character he describes as, "out there." Yet Dytri feels that The Living End reveals what his life was like 16 years ago. "At that time, if I was 21 or 22 and found out I was terminally ill, I would jump out of a plane, fuck as many people as I can & do everything I can," he said over the phone from his home in Los Angeles. "Looking back, there were a lot of parallels between my personality and Luke's. I think Gregg recognized that." Alas, Dytri's attitude after The Living End was a success was so brash he spoiled any chances to make more films. He explains how he mishandled his career with candor, if also some regret, "I landed an agent and was full of the idea. I thought I'd only take leads. I blew off meeting and interviews because I was surfing. I think I fucked myself in a lot of ways the year after the film came out because I wasn't mature enough to act professionally." Currently the former actor is involved in a streetwear clothing company (Ludwigvantheman.com), which produces a high-end men's casual line. And although the film was not an easy shoot, it was one that both actors remember vividly. "I thought it was cool," Dytri says, "The difficult parts were shooting in a cold, wet night. We shot guerrilla style, with a lot of constraints. But I liked that aspect of it. Sitting in a car wasn't too fun, though." Gilmore describes a climactic scene where he is fucked at gunpoint as being particularly tough. "After the fourth take, they put a piece of cardboard under my back so I would not be quite so scratched up. It was a taxing shoot, but we were all really young and energetic and believe in what we were doing, so that made it easier." And while the two actors have not stayed in touch since the film came out, it has forever bonded them. What's more it has connected with filmgoers for almost two decades. Now, with the new remixed and remastered edition available, it is time for a whole new audience to discover The Living End. © 2008 Gary M. Kramer |
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