THE RASPBERRY REICH
Canada, 2004, dir. Bruce LaBruce
Thursday, June 2, 9:30 p.m.
Bruce LaBruce’s The Raspberry Reich meshes his typical stylized highbrow (cough, cough) porn with revolutionist polemic, resulting in a piece of filmmaking so torn between its intellectual and trash inspirations that it somehow manages to be both at the same time.
Screaming, "Heterosexuality is the opiate of the masses" while riding one of her fellow terrorist cronies, Gundrun (Susanne Sachsse) plots the downfall of straight culture through her proposed "Homosexual intifada." A kidnapping plot follows, which, besides kicking off the supposed revolution, also gives two rather cute lads the chance for some hardcore action in the trunk of the kidnapping vehicle. This being Bruce LaBruce, sensational writer, photographer and underground filmmaker, the plot comes second. It’s not really about why those guys are in the trunk, but what they can get up to on the journey.
While it’s often difficult to take LaBruce seriously (he is, after all, Canada’s homegrown John Waters with full-on penetration and money shots in place of Waters’ wilting wit), The Raspberry Reich ultimately overcomes LaBruce’s previous appearance of having more style than brains. Borrowing the worst of bargain basement porn acting and style, The Raspberry Reich is hilariously stupid and over-the-top, a film as equally easy to hate as love. Have fun with it – it’s sure to be both the hippest film at this year’s festival and the screening most likely populated by shady middle-aged men in long jackets. It’s not like you were expecting a truly good film from LaBruce, were you?
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