it is not a comfortable film. because its ambition is not to present the skin of things but the essence of them. it is one of honest movies who represents more a testimony than artistic work. bitter, harsh, cruel, it seems be the film of one actor because the performance of Alex Dimitriades impress at whole. and not only for the talent or inspiration but for extraordinary dedication to do a complex and special role. it is not a gay movie or slice from a Greek community from Australia. it represents picture of a deep solitude of an age, an option, a society.a film who use not reasonable tools for say its story. a movie who can be perceived in many angles but who can be reduced as the powerful need to escape from yourself. it is not a comfortable movie. but that is its purpose - to say what who represents, in many situations, the domain of heavy silence. so, more than a film, it is a cry.

This movie didn't do anybody who is homosexual any favors. It painted us as being promiscuous perverts who follow people out into back alleys, restrooms, etc. and have anonymous sex with anybody and everybody. I was extremely disappointed, and will never watch this movie again. I certainly hope that not many straight people view this, because it confirms what ignorant, closed minded people think about us without even getting to know us. Sure, I'm not stupid. I know that these things go on, even more often than I'd like. But to make a movie confirming the misconceptions of so many people who, instead of learning that there are a lot of us who are just like everyone else, who don't hang out in bathrooms, who don't follow people out into back alleys, who don't just walk up and get into the car with some stranger and have sex, quite frankly, really makes me angry. However, this is ONLY my opinion, and if anyone loves this movie, more power to them.

I don't consider this a very good film in the conventional sense, but it is certainly provocative and memorable. (Apparently it was not well received by the Greek-Aussie community, and the star of the film did not become a star). Note: Don't confuse this with a film by a Turkish-German director, Head-On (2004), also good but very different. Back to Aussie film: My judgment is undoubtedly clouded by my attraction to main character Ari, a second-generation Greek-Aussie who is angry and has a lot of issues (one of them being heavy drug use). So what do I like besides gorgeous Ari? Several times in the film he dances traditional Greek folk dances and he is most mesmerizing in these scenes. One of the first such dances is with his father with whom he has a mostly bad relationship. Ari's dancing expresses the conflicts and contradictions of the film and of course his own. (The film is largely seen through Ari's ineffable eyes.) The ending: The film seems to be careening relentlessly towards tragedy but it doesn't quite go there. It ends on an ambiguous note. Ever angry, but defiant too. And dancing.

Why does everyone want happy lovey dovey gay movies with a positive ending? This film plays with all the stereotypes, raising your hopes and expectations and then keeps dropping you back where you started. Ari meets Sean, but misses the opportunity; Ari is drop-dead gorgeous, but still will choose the quick w**k with an older guy down the back alley. What a change from other gay movies, where two beautiful people bore us to death for an hour and a half. And the film moves so well between comic and tragic: from the taxi driver scene to the police station, while Alex just shrugs it all off with that winsome uninvolved smile knowing nothing is ever going to save him. Ari is so self-absorbed and self-destructive that he is one of the great anti-heroes of cinema. And his self-recognition when he says while cruising at the docks "I am a sailor and a slut and shall be to the end of time" is one of the best endings of any film ever. Gay life can be harsh and brutal so you'd better get used to it! But at least it is always edgy and vibrant ... and kudos to Alex D for carrying this film so well! Being good-looking alone would not have made this character so memorable.