The Living End

The Living End

The Living End
A film by Greg Araki
Starring Mike Dytri and Craig Gilmore
Kino Cinema, Melbourne
Reviewed by Kylie Budge and Jo Brown

The original draft of the The Living End was called Fuck the World. That encapsulates the mood of the two main characters, Luke and Jon, in this riveting film, described by the New York Times as "a gay post-punk Thelma and Louise".

Araki has captured the anger of living in the '90s in the USA and being HIV-positive. He describes the film as "easily my most desperate picture to date. And as much as I loathe the pigeonholing label, it is also the most frankly 'gay'. Reckless and extreme, the film challenges not only the conventions established by the genre but those constraints imposed by our virulently homophobic mainstream culture as well."

The Living End is a road movie of sorts about two HIV-positive men who are both trying to deal with surviving in an anti-gay world where life is definitely too short.

It is also about the relationship which develops between them in this extremely tense and difficult environment. As Jon's health deteriorates, he begins to realise that he cannot continue to evade the possibility of death and the pressures and responsibilities of the real world, while Luke clings to his romantic, nihilistic adventure until the final confrontation between the two.

This powerfully acted and extremely moving film questions everything and sets out to shock as a way of expressing the urgency that HIV and AIDS gives peoples' lives. For film-goers interested in the exploration of contemporary human issues, The Living End is a must.