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Poison – 1991 Haynes
- There are three short films or episodes intercut- there’s a Zelig-like fake documentary, a 50’s B Sci-Fi film and a prison film—it’s connected to DW Griffith’s Intolerance and this style would be used again in The Fountain and Cloud Atlas
- Out in 1991- Slacker, after Spike Lee, Soderbergh’s Sex Lies, before Reservoir Dogs – a rich time for the indie movement even if Haynes never reaches the level of these auteurs (or hasn’t yet)
- Haynes a constant voice for Queer cinema over the last 25 years- doing strong work—I think in the B-movie for sure we have a bit of Leprosy as AIDS metaphor

- The stories/movies/episodes on their own aren’t very good but cut together- the imagination and construct of how it’s told—is strong– an anthology film set differently – lots of passages and quotes from Jean Genet to go along with it
- Like most all of Haynes work this is show in 16mm
- Feels rough drafty—it’s very hard to make a good film mocking bad films or bad genres
- About outcasts, ostracization
- Powerful disturbing imagery like the spitting scene
- Recommend- barely- not in top 10 of 1991
Drake2020-07-03T10:30:11+00:00
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