Oh My Godot: Big Eden

Friday, June 19, 2009

OMG Movie Club Second Feature

A sweet, touching, charming movie Big Eden was released in 2000 becoming a crowd and festival favorite.

A romantic drama, it is the story Henry, a successful but lonely New York artist, returns to Big Eden, the town of his childhood, to care for his grandfather. Henry finds he must come to terms with his relationship to Dean Stewart, his best friend from high school, and the object of his unrequited love. His feelings for Dean, which caused him to flee Big Eden almost twenty years ago, seem to have grown stronger over the years.

Henry's reappearance sparks a transformation in Pike, the shy Native American owner of the town's general store. Pike is as surprised as anyone when he finds himself falling in love with Henry. As this unspoken triangle unfolds under the scrutiny of Big Eden's community, nearly everyone in town develops a stake in its outcome. Big Eden is a uniquely American fable about home and family.

First time Writer/Director,Thomas Bezucha said “I…had these fantasies of moving out West, chucking it all in and going to teach art in some elementary school in Montana. I would express that fantasy and all my friends would freak out and say, ‘Are you crazy? You can't do that, you're gay, do you know what they do to gay people out there?’ I sort of got into this idea of - it was amazing how prejudiced people in an urban setting were about rural people, the preconception about the mindset out there - and I thought, ‘Well, what if that weren't the case?’”

What did you like about the movie? Could you identify with any of the characters? Were there characters who frustrated you? What parts touched you? What made it different from other GLBT movies you've seen?

The film has been criticized for its unrealistically sunny depiction of the way Big Eden embraces its gay citizens, and this is unfair -romantic comedies are supposed to take place in an improved
fantasy world. What do you think? Fair criticism?

Bonus points for those who can say who was the Oscar winner in the movie, and extra bonus points for movie they were in to win it.

For the those in the US - the full movie is available online - one place is Logo online.
Big Eden - Entire Movie

Stubborn has bee working on trying to get Big Eden up for those outside of the US, right now is taking ages to upload the whole movie to Youtube so for now you can get it through Rapid Share.