"HIDE"
Expectations, Obligations and Reality Amos Lassen
Sometimes a short film can say in several minutes that which longer films try to get across but still do not manage to do. Perhaps that is why we tend to remember pivotal scenes and not whole films. I feel quite confidant in stating that anyone who sees Robert Shelby's "Hide" will remember the film for a very long time. It is centered on an issue that many people of my generation have witnessed or been a part of and for that reason alone, we can consider this an important film (but there are several other reasons as well).
We are raised with certain expectations and obligations that are put upon us—by family, society, friends and usually the choices we make are based upon them. When we make a bad choice, we are reminded of it by ourselves and by others. Our goals tend to come out of the expectations of others and even the in the twentieth-first century with all of its diversity, the house with the picket fence, the wife and the children are still part of the expectations of many. Our main characters, Rick and Matthew were fine with this until they met face to face one day and their worlds collided. They both realize that had they lived their lives differently and according to what they wanted and not what was expected by others, that everything would have been different. Instead, they each married and fathered children and sublimated their true feelings for the sake of the larger society. Then they discover what "might have been" and they are faced with the decision of whether it was worth it or not. Here is the study of two men who lived in the closet and hid from their sexuality and who uncover it to be who they really are. They are both trapped in marriages of convenience and it is there that they discover the "consequences of what they may have to tell their wives and what the future might hold for their relationship".
I have rarely seen films that are perfect but here is one that is very close to it. The story line is very real and very relevant, the cinematography is beautiful and the direction is flawless. But there is something else and that is the incredible performances of Daamen Krall and David Zimmerman as Rick and Matthew. As I watched, my heart ached for them and I was suddenly taken back to a time when I had to decide who I was. Additionally this is a film made about the "forgotten" generation of gay men—the "older" men and we realize that they are as much a part of us as we are a part of them. This is a stunning piece of filmmaking that should not be missed—not by the young who one day will become the Ricks and Matthews and not by the old, who been there and lived through what we see.
