Buy Amazing Grace | Mr. Skin's Celebrity Nudity Movie Reviews

Amazing Grace

We're Sorry...
We're sorry, but this title is currently unavailable.

When new special editions or price reductions are announced.

Synopsis

A serious, thought-provoking gay drama about a romantic, Israeli, gay teenager on his own.

Review

Set in Tel Aviv, this intense, melancholy drama focuses on Jonathan, a gangly and romantic gay teenager who faces an early-life crisis when he finds himself abandoned by his lover. Frustrated by his self-absorbed mother and horde of pot-head friends who invade his apartment, Jonathan's passions are rekindled after he befriends Thomas, the handsome, HIV-positive older son of his upstairs neighbor. Their budding yet tentative relationship provides the backdrop for this ambitious, thought-provoking social and sexual drama which touches upon such issues as AIDS, death, drug abuse, the gay milieu of Tel Aviv and family dyfunctionalism.

Although the film overreaches, it remains a serious, thought-provoking gay drama. Amos Gutman, the filmmaker, died of AIDS in 1993 shortly after the release of this film. (Hebrew with English subtitles)

Raymond Murray

Customer Reviews

Coming Together

Amos Lassen wrote on 11/29/2011:

With AIDS as a backdrop, “Amazing Grace” is a film that explores two families, each with a gay son. Jonathan (Gal Hoyberger) is leaving his boyfriend Miki because Miki cheats on him. One day he sees Thomas, the son and grandson of neighbors. Thomas has returned to Israel after he failed at being a musician in New York; he is not well, feeling detached and looking for drugs. Jonathan tries to connect with him but has a hard time doing so. At the same time, Thomas’s grandmother has become bitter as she has aged and that bitterness is aimed at Thomas’s mother. Both women worry about Thomas, Jonathan’s family manage their relationships despite in-fighting and bickering and Jonathan is facing adulthood. What bring the two families together are the gay sons.
Even though this is an Israeli film, the story is universal. What happens in the film could happen anywhere and probably does. “Amazing Grace” looks at family values, romantic and familial relationships and characteristics of various age groups. The film makes no judgments but it presents issues straightforwardly. The characters attempt to work out their problems and we are only observers.
The treatment of AIDS is gentle and subtle as is the look at gay life, old age, dying and death. Amos Gutman directed this with love and admiration and it is (for now) his only full length film available in the United States. He gives us a simple story but with complex characters.
When Jonathan first sees Thomas he is love struck and makes serious attempts to speak to him but Thomas is reluctant to become involved because he has AIDS. Jonathan does not know this and keeps pushing until one day the two find solace in each other. However this relationship is not to last and there is a sense of dread throughout the film. There are several beautiful scenes of passion and tenderness which are quite rare, especially in a movie made in 1992. The ending, however, really does not satisfy.
What really makes this movie so special is the way it examines family relationships, especially those of Thomas’s mother and grandmother. Amos Gutman keeps us involved with the characters and this could be the reason that when reconciliation comes at the end of the movie, there is no feel of joy.
It is truly sad that we have lost Amos Gutman. His movies are beautiful and he did so much to advance gay cinema, not only in Israel but everywhere. Watching “Amazing Grace” again last night reminded me of what a treasure is no longer with us.