The early '70s saw some of gay porn's most innovative work being produced, before the trappings of the genre ossified toward decade's end. A 1973 release date, as well as some suitably ambitious print advertising, gave me hope for BROTHERS, and the results didn't disappoint.
We first meet Vince (Mountain) hopping out of bed with a trick (in a surprising act of restraint, a sex scene is elided) and heading to LAX, where his fresh-faced younger brother Rick is waiting to spend the weekend on military leave. The affection between the two is palpable, and despite Vince being gay, Rick doesn't seem to mind, though the issue remains largely unexpressed.
As the two begin Rick's vacation with a stroll along the Santa Monica pier, Vince spies a handsome blond and sneaks away to grab the guy's number. Arranging a date later in the evening, he fobs Rick off on Rick's ex-girlfriend Penny (future WAYNE'S WORLD director Penelope Spheeris, in a surprising non-sex role) so he can have the place to himself. While Penny desperately tries to keep Rick entertained with dull conversation and dancing, we intermittently cut back the sexual tryst between Vince and his pick-up. While neither is the cutest guy gay porn has ever seen, their chemistry is off the charts, and the breathless montage and expertly deployed (stolen) soundtrack combine to create an atmosphere of true eroticism, proof positive that porn can be sexy, fun, and even life-affirming when enough energy and passion are invested.
Returning home, Rick heads to bed and wakes up the next day to find a couple guys in the living room in the middle of a hardcore S&M scene. While completely gratuitous, this sequence remains engaging for the charge between its participants: the top, Jay Jay Kent, has his dom patter down pat, and takes estimable control of his partner, forcing him to the ground and providing a truly spectacular pissing scene (straight-into-camera!) that apparently got the film busted in Philadelphia! A lot of porn seems to think S&M is purely about whips, chains and floggings, but BROTHERS understand that it's more about power and submission, and manages to make its foray into this realm far more engaging as a result.
**SPOILERS**
Unable to get the images he's witnessed out of his mind, Rick finally opens up to his brother about his own homosexual inclination. Things go where you'd expect, leading to a passionate rendezvous by the fireplace as the siblings find new ways of expressing their brotherly love. Passing the night together, they part the following morning as Vince drops his brother back at the airport. Rick smiles and waves goodbye, and we next see Vince in a cemetery, crouched over his brother's grave. He lays a hand on the tombstone as the camera dollies down the road, past row after row of silent military gravestones, a whole field full of a nation's fallen brothers.
**END SPOILERS**
Despite ending on a pretty ballsy bummer (not dissimilar to Tom de Simone's equally exceptional THE IDOL), BROTHERS' main fault lies in not doing quite enough beforehand to earn its emotional high notes (both the ending and the final sex scene). Despite the film containing a fair amount of plot and good location photography, the dynamic between the siblings still feels undeveloped, more hinted at than fully fleshed out, with the audience left to fill in significant details. Similarly, the scenes with Spheeris, while well done in and of themselves, are kind of a long path to nowhere. It's never clear whether Rick ever had any genuine feelings for her, nor does their relationship progress or change in any meaningful way, either by him reckoning with their past or her coming to terms with his present. Instead, Spheeris' character exists mostly to keep Rick distracted, and her eventual disengagement from the brothers (ostensibly her friends) ends her story on a whimper rather than a bang.
Still, despite its narrative underdevelopment, BROTHERS strives for - and achieves - far more than the majority of gay productions at the time, and deserves plaudits for its kitchen sink naturalism and solid direction. Rarely outside the early '70s can one make such a laudatory statement about gay erotica, and while BROTHERS may not be entirely successful as narrative, it emerges as superior porn.
We first meet Vince (Mountain) hopping out of bed with a trick (in a surprising act of restraint, a sex scene is elided) and heading to LAX, where his fresh-faced younger brother Rick is waiting to spend the weekend on military leave. The affection between the two is palpable, and despite Vince being gay, Rick doesn't seem to mind, though the issue remains largely unexpressed.
As the two begin Rick's vacation with a stroll along the Santa Monica pier, Vince spies a handsome blond and sneaks away to grab the guy's number. Arranging a date later in the evening, he fobs Rick off on Rick's ex-girlfriend Penny (future WAYNE'S WORLD director Penelope Spheeris, in a surprising non-sex role) so he can have the place to himself. While Penny desperately tries to keep Rick entertained with dull conversation and dancing, we intermittently cut back the sexual tryst between Vince and his pick-up. While neither is the cutest guy gay porn has ever seen, their chemistry is off the charts, and the breathless montage and expertly deployed (stolen) soundtrack combine to create an atmosphere of true eroticism, proof positive that porn can be sexy, fun, and even life-affirming when enough energy and passion are invested.
Returning home, Rick heads to bed and wakes up the next day to find a couple guys in the living room in the middle of a hardcore S&M scene. While completely gratuitous, this sequence remains engaging for the charge between its participants: the top, Jay Jay Kent, has his dom patter down pat, and takes estimable control of his partner, forcing him to the ground and providing a truly spectacular pissing scene (straight-into-camera!) that apparently got the film busted in Philadelphia! A lot of porn seems to think S&M is purely about whips, chains and floggings, but BROTHERS understand that it's more about power and submission, and manages to make its foray into this realm far more engaging as a result.
**SPOILERS**
Unable to get the images he's witnessed out of his mind, Rick finally opens up to his brother about his own homosexual inclination. Things go where you'd expect, leading to a passionate rendezvous by the fireplace as the siblings find new ways of expressing their brotherly love. Passing the night together, they part the following morning as Vince drops his brother back at the airport. Rick smiles and waves goodbye, and we next see Vince in a cemetery, crouched over his brother's grave. He lays a hand on the tombstone as the camera dollies down the road, past row after row of silent military gravestones, a whole field full of a nation's fallen brothers.
**END SPOILERS**
Despite ending on a pretty ballsy bummer (not dissimilar to Tom de Simone's equally exceptional THE IDOL), BROTHERS' main fault lies in not doing quite enough beforehand to earn its emotional high notes (both the ending and the final sex scene). Despite the film containing a fair amount of plot and good location photography, the dynamic between the siblings still feels undeveloped, more hinted at than fully fleshed out, with the audience left to fill in significant details. Similarly, the scenes with Spheeris, while well done in and of themselves, are kind of a long path to nowhere. It's never clear whether Rick ever had any genuine feelings for her, nor does their relationship progress or change in any meaningful way, either by him reckoning with their past or her coming to terms with his present. Instead, Spheeris' character exists mostly to keep Rick distracted, and her eventual disengagement from the brothers (ostensibly her friends) ends her story on a whimper rather than a bang.
Still, despite its narrative underdevelopment, BROTHERS strives for - and achieves - far more than the majority of gay productions at the time, and deserves plaudits for its kitchen sink naturalism and solid direction. Rarely outside the early '70s can one make such a laudatory statement about gay erotica, and while BROTHERS may not be entirely successful as narrative, it emerges as superior porn.