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Bent

Play trailer Poster for Bent NC-17 1997 1h 57m Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
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74% Tomatometer 23 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
In 1930s Berlin, homosexual Max (Clive Owen) sleeps with German officer Wolf (Nikolaj Waldau), only to see him killed by his fellow Nazis the next morning. Fleeing with his boyfriend, Rudy (Brian Webber), Max is eventually caught and forced to beat his partner to death on a train to prove they have no connection. He's then sent to Dachau concentration camp and meets Horst (Lothaire Bluteau), a proud gay man also bound for the camp. Despite their harsh surroundings, the two fall in love.
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Bent

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Critics Consensus

Bent juggles heavy topics with style, though its heavy-handedness at times feels more like exploitation than exploration.

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Critics Reviews

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Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly Rated: C+ Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Emanuel Levy Variety The screen version of Sherman's play about homosexuals in Nazi Germany shows that tyro director Mathias doesn't know much about film for his erratic approach and inconsistent style bring out the play's weaknesses, though the acting is good. Rated: C+ Apr 18, 2006 Full Review Globe and Mail Rated: 2/4 Apr 12, 2002 Full Review Eve Tushnet Patheos There’s something too well-fed in that final moment... Jan 31, 2023 Full Review Jan Stuart The Advocate Bent shrewdly underscores the ways in which the camps reflected the hierarchy of prejudice that exists to this day. Apr 5, 2022 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy It's easy to see why playwright Martin Sherman's 1979 Bent was such a groundbreaking theatrical achievement and almost as easy to understand why the 1997 film adaptation failed to gain the same traction. Rated: 2.5/4 Jan 21, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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PridePosterStudios A harrowing and powerful watch. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/26/24 Full Review Daniel O Different take on the Holucaust. Good adaptation of the play. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Great cast... however, sad reminder of the horror that gays & Jewish people faced. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member A stellar performance by all. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Bent takes a look inside the concentration camp for the homosexuals and how the prisoners tried to survive in extremely harsh conditions. My only problem with Bent is the lack of sympathetic note for the characters, they partly brought their fate upon themselves, but otherwise it is a tale of courage and strength against oppression. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Adapted from the George Sherman play, who also wrote the screenplay, Bent is a story involving a homosexual romance between two prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp. Bent has good intentions, but its flaws unfortunately make its atypical story uncompelling. The historical accounts of gay persecution in the Holocaust should be reflected on more in media, but this adaptation focuses more on an unmoving love story with the Holocaust used as a backdrop for dramatic effect, and the film fails to give a convincing depiction of the Holocaust or the Nazi invasion. Bent wasn't accommodated properly for film as several scenes give more of an appearance of a stage play with their compositions than a movie. Note: The orgy scene that gave it the NC-17 rating is very tame. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis In 1930s Berlin, homosexual Max (Clive Owen) sleeps with German officer Wolf (Nikolaj Waldau), only to see him killed by his fellow Nazis the next morning. Fleeing with his boyfriend, Rudy (Brian Webber), Max is eventually caught and forced to beat his partner to death on a train to prove they have no connection. He's then sent to Dachau concentration camp and meets Horst (Lothaire Bluteau), a proud gay man also bound for the camp. Despite their harsh surroundings, the two fall in love.
Director
Sean Mathias
Producer
Michael Solinger, Dixie Linder
Screenwriter
Martin Sherman
Production Co
Channel Four Films
Rating
NC-17
Genre
Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 12, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$418.2K
Runtime
1h 57m
Sound Mix
Surround
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