The 1999 movie "Lola + Bilidikid" has the look of the 1970s German new wave (especially Sugarbaby) and something of the pessimism and melodramatic fervor of Fassbinder (and Almodóvar and Douglas Sirk). It deals with German mistreatment of Turkish "guest workers" as in Ali, Fear Eats the Soul and class differences in male homosexual relations as in "Fox and His Friends."

The movie was shot in Berlin, especially the heavily Turkish section of Kreuzberg, by writer/director Kutlug Ataman. That what seems extreme and retro is not the "bad old days" was powerfully demonstrated by death threats against Ataman and the movie's producers when the movie played briefly in Istanbul.

Initially, it seems that there are three stories. First there is the high-school student Murat (Baki Davrak) desiring males but frightened by the strong condemnation particularly of his older brother Osman (Hasan Ali Mete), someone obsessed with the honor of the family and worried by Murat's lack of sexual interest in females. Osman tries to force Murat into a prostitute and to make him understand that people are either holes (degraded beings) or hole-fillers (exalted "real men").

Then there is a professional female impersonator called Lola (Gandi Mukli), who performs with two other Turkish transvestites in a group calling itself "Guest Workers." Lola is coupled with Bilidikid (Billy the Kid), who seems to be a refugee from the cast of "Grease" than from Turkey. Billy is a pimp and sometimes turns tricks himself. (Lola seemingly doesn't know about either of these sources of income.) Billy wants Lola to have her male genitals removed so that Billy does not have to see himself or be seen by others as a man who loves (etc.) another male. Lola is very reluctant to have the plumbing rearranged, though believing Billy's threat to do it with his own knife.

At Billy's insistence, Lola goes to demand his share of the inheritance. Who should answer the door but Murat? Although Osman quickly pulls Murat in and locks him in his bedroom, Murat has learned that he had a brother. After being bashed by a trio of neo-Nazi youth, Murat learns that Osman threw Lola out. Murat was conceived as a replacement second son. The family plot continues to thicken (though that is already very thick!).

Meanwhile, there is a seemingly even more ominous relationship between a fastidious, affluent architect ((Michael Gerber), his astringent mother (Inge Keller), and a scruffy-looking Turkish hustler Iskender (Murat Yilmaz). Although Iskender is pimped by Billy, the denouement I expected does not occur. There are unexpected and amusing developments in this subplot.

There is mounting violence in the confrontations between the neo-Nazis and Billy, Lola, and Murat. There is one predictable outcome along with several that I didn't see coming in an explosive final quarter hour. There is resistance of the legendary Stonewall sort, some kitchen-sink realism, and odd blends of tawdry and heroic (reminiscent of the family dynamics in "Rocco and His Brother"; there is also a little-developed "Romeo and Juliet"/"West Side Story" angle). There are clashes between cultures and between generations, photographed in New German cinema underlighting and occasionally supersaturated colors by Chris Squires.

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The DVD includes trailers for some similarly themed movies and very brief biographical notes.

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Unlike some of the other books and movies I've written about for this year's celebration, along with considerable horror there is discernible and emerging pride and resistance in "Lola and Billy the Kid." For a complete listing of Pride 2004 writeoff participants, see Psychovan'ts profile page.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD