Gay Meets Gay With "Nico and Dani"
by Brandon Judell
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At the Chicago International Film Festival, when director/co-writer of
"Nico and Dani" ("Krámpack") was awarded the FIPRESCI
Award, the citation read: "For its sensitive treatment of teenage
sexuality." It couldn't be said better.
This sensual dramedy about two boys coming of age -- one gay and one
willing to experiment -- will no doubt become a DVD classic for gay film
connoisseurs and NAMBLA-ites who aren't turned off by lads post bar
mitzvah age.
Gangly boys in search of orgasm and love has seldom been better
portrayed. To top it off, the director is named Cesc Gay.
Mr. Gay, a dark-haired, rugged creature was born in Barcelona in 1967.
His one feature before this, "Hotel Room" (1998), was never
released in this country. But in Spain, he's carved out a niche with
several shorts and his acclaimed helming of live multimedia
performances.
We sat down recently and spoke in Manhattan's rather noisy, very hip
Hudson Hotel.
PlanetOut: The German director Rosa von Praunheim chose his first
name, a woman's name, as a political act. Is your last name really Gay?
Gay: It's really Gay.
PlanetOut: In Spain, does "gay" carry the same meaning it does in
America?
Gay: This is one of the funny things about "Nico and Dani,"
the subject of the story. The fact we are invited to a lot of gay and
lesbian film festivals, that we found a distribution company here in the
States specializing in gay films -- we didn't think about that when we
made the movie. I think this is interesting because the actors are not
gay. I'm not gay. Nobody in the film was gay. Nobody thought we'd
interest a gay audience. But I just wanted to do an honest film about
two young guys, about friendship, about being a teenager and discovering
sexuality, and that's it. So I'm glad about the homosexual reception.
Besides, there's my name.
PlanetOut: Did your name ever cause you problems in Spain?
Gay: No.
PlanetOut: There was a man named Gay here in the States who shot
up a gay bar last year because of all the teasing he got.
Gay: I know. Somebody in San Francisco told me the story. Growing
up, the word "gay" did not have the importance it does now in Spain.
Because if you wanted to say "gay" to somebody, you used another word,
like "maricon." So people just started using gay in the beginning of the
'80s. At that time I was not in school. I never had problems with it.
All my gay friends were always kidding me about it. I accept it. I'm
proud of my name.
PlanetOut: The original title of the movie was
"Krámpack."
Gay: Yes, they changed it for American distribution. They thought
it sounded too weird for here. It's a make-believe word taken from a
character's name in a French theater play.
PlanetOut: Now I've read different critics' take on the word. Some
say it stands for mutual masturbation. One assumed it stands for mutual
masturbation with a little head.
Gay: A little what?
PlanetOut:A little oral sex. But it just means mutual
masturbation?
Gay: Yes. In the original play on which the film's based, what's
happening is a group of different friends ... it's like a joke. Let's go
Krámpack. So three or four people do a Krámpack to another
person. It's like a kind of an anatomy game. A soldier's game. That's
the original idea. And then the producer called me and offered me that
theater play. "You can read it. If you are interested, we make the
movie." I read the script. I had to change a lot. I changed the
characters, the dialogue. It's a totally different story. But the
subject is the same -- the relationship between the boys.
PlanetOut: You made the characters younger.
Gay: Yes.
PlanetOut: Why? To make it more realistic?
Gay: Yes. Because we started writing, and this is a story about
confusion. And I thought, if the characters are 25 years old, this is
another story. If you're 25 and you don't know whether you are gay or
not, it's another story. When I start trying to imagine these two guys
on the bed, if they are both 25, that's another story. I always
visualized two kids. That's the way I like it. Two kids trying to
understand what's going on.
PlanetOut: Your previous film was financed with the money your
friend got from the death of a relative. Did anyone have to die to get
this film going?
Gay: "Nico and Dani?" No. Once is enough. The producer just
called me. Nico and Dani is my first normal film. I mean with a
crew, with money.
PlanetOut: Now is being gay in Spain a problem? I'm not sure, but
I would suspect it would have been a problem under Franco? Like here,
we're always fighting for gay rights.
Gay: I don't know. I can't answer that for you. I think from
talking with my gay friends, the answer is no. All of my very close
friends who are gay, I think they grew up in a very normal way. Perhaps
some with a kind of challenge from their father. But I think it's
changed a lot. I think especially if you live in a big city, of course.
If you are living in the mountains or in a small town, it's probably
different. But I think it's changed a lot now. And it's cool now for the
young people. Something like cool. Gay and gay, it's cool.
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