In recent decades, male bisexuality has become a recurring topic in international cinema, as filmmakers and their works challenge our ideas about sexual freedom and identity. In all of these films, more than a dozen of which are covered here, bisexuality is treated both as an actual practice and a complex metaphor for a number of things, including the need to adapt to changing environments, the questioning of rigidly traditional male roles and identities, the breakdown and regeneration of the structures of families, the limitations of monogamy, and the stubborn affirmation of romantic love.

Justin Vicari is an award-winning poet, essayist and film writer. He lives in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania.

Justin Vicari
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 255
Bibliographic Info: 13 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6160-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8526-0
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

Introduction: Searching for Bob Elkin      7

Part 1. Personal Visions

1. Fifteen Minutes of the Future: François Ozon’s A Summer Dress      31

2. To Bend Without Breaking: Bisexuality and Adaptation in the Films of André Téchiné      39

3. Tentative, Tender … and Trendy? Gregg Araki’s Teen Trilogy      51

4. Rock Star Bisexuality in Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine      64

5. For Whom the Bi Tolls: Craig Lucas’ The Dying Gaul and Ozon’s Water Drops on Burning Rocks      72

Part 2. Alone and with Others

6. Making the Man: The Bisexual Hero      91

7. Illegible Patriarchies: Bisexualizing the Family      108

8. Fazes and Mazes: Inside the Triangle      142

Part 3. Matters of Love and Death

9. The Schoolboy Crush and Its Ambiguous Object      161

10. Turning It On and Off: “Bi for Pay”      174

11. Allegories of AIDS      186

12. In His Wake: The Strange Power of the Dead Bisexual      204

13. At the Limits of Heterosexuality: The Woman’s Viewpoint in Anatomy of Hell      219

Conclusion: “It’s All Good”      232

Chapter Notes      235

Works Cited      239

Index      243

“Recommended! Vicari has amazing insights into bisexuality and how it is expressed on film. His film criticism is both in-depth and fascinating”—Examiner.com; “the well-conceived structure, detailed reflections, and lucid writing style of Vicari’s study should interest both casual cineastes and scholars. It is certain to become an influential staple and offer solid grounding for further research and examination”—brightlightsfilm.com.