HOLDING THE MAN

Craig Stott, Anthony LaPaglia and Ryan Corr in HOLDING THE MAN
Craig Stott, Anthony LaPaglia and Ryan Corr in HOLDING THE MAN

First a best selling and award winning book, then a box office smash hit and award winning play, HOLDING THE MAN makes it a trifecta with Neil Armfield’s beautifully rendered film.

With a screenplay by Tommy Murphy who adapted Timothy Conigrave’s book initially for the stage, HOLDING THE MAN shows a maturation of development, unfortunately lacking in many films, but lately abundantly evident in the recent spate of stage to screen adaptations that include Last Cab to Darwin and Ruben Guthrie, and the upcoming The Daughter.

Thematically, HOLDING THE MAN takes its cue from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a story of star crossed lovers, Tim and John.

Two households, both alike in dignity, the Conigraves and the Caleos, in fair Victoria, is the scene. The ancient grudge is homophobia and the two Catholic school boys break new mutiny by falling in love.

Two aesthetes, Tim Conigrave, an artist, aspiring actor and writer, John Caleo, athlete, Aussie Rules warrior, prick love for pricking and from forth the fatal loins their parents strife, and the continuance of John’s father’s rage.

HOLDING THE MAN is a coming of age coming out film, full of the joys and jealousies, the passion and pain of all great love stories.

It features two outstanding performances in the lead characters, Ryan Corr as Tim and Craig Stott as John, as well as an exemplary supporting cast with Guy Pearce and Kerry Fox as Tim’s parents and Anthony Lapaglia and Camill Ah Kin as John’s mum and dad.

Sarah Snook notches another star turn as Pepe Trevor, a kind of Benvolio to Tim’s Romeo, and Geoffrey Rush and Jane Menelaus give great cameo as a couple of NIDA doyens.

Twenty years after the publication of the book, the film comes at an important moment in history and its themes have never been more relevant to audiences around the world.

In the US, 26 million people on Facebook washed their profile photo with the rainbow flag to celebrate the June 2015 US Supreme Court ruling that same sex couples have the same rights to marriage as heterosexual couples. Just a few weeks earlier, the Irish people voted in favour of same sex marriage. In Australia, more than 70% of the population now support marriage equality and the momentum towards legislating for it seems unstoppable.

Such a far cry from the fear and hatred that accompanied the AIDS epidemic, an era that Tim and John lived and died through.

HOLDING THE MAN plays the ball of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come thanks to courage and persistence. The game’s not over but this film scores a bag-full of goals by the team of collaborators and for the audience in general.

This one’s to have and to hold.