Exploding Oedipus (2001)

Director:

Marc Lafia

Plot:

Following the heart attack of his father, Hilbert decides to reevaluate his life and does so to the accompaniment of super 8 films of his childhood. |

Plot Keywords:

Gay Interest

Cast

Andrew Ableson
George Alvarez	...	Dennis
Charlotte Chatton	...	Susan
James Anthony Cotton	...	Nick
John Detwiler
Boris Eckey
Juliana Hatfield
Michaël Jacob
Michael Jacob
Storm Large
Tania Meneguzzi
Tomoku Oku
Scott Ragle	...	Byron
Bruce Ramsay	...	Hilbert
Matt Weimer

Directed by
Marc Lafia

Produced by
Sue Campbell	....	executive producer
Patrick Firpo	....	line producer
Mary Jordan	....	associate producer
Bill Kalm	....	executive producer
Kenneth Peralta	....	executive producer
Irena Rogovsky	....	associate producer
Christine Sheaks	....	associate producer
Kenneth Wayne	....	producer

Original Music by
Petey Reniche

Cinematography by
Joplin Wu

Film Editing by
Joe Bini

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Brian Benson	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Dian Langlois	....	foley artist
Jeremiah Moore	....	sound effects editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Rebecca Bauscher	....	still photographer
Chris Lindsay	....	key grip

Editorial Department
Thomas Staunton	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Kendall Doty	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• FD Films

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

FD Films

An exquisite, ballsy first feature by Marc Lafia, EXPLODING OEDIPUS bursts upon the screen with the dark and ominous beauty of an inky-black sunspot.

An exquisite, ballsy first feature by Marc Lafia, EXPLODING OEDIPUS bursts upon the screen with the dark and ominous beauty of an inky-black sunspot. The story follows Hilbert, a handsome young man who has dropped out of the mainstream to re-assemble his identity from the scattered pieces left by his swinging parents and his troubled youth. Holing up in a San Francisco flophouse, Hilbert begins a long, "lost weekend" of reading, reflecting and watching Super 8mm home movies to decipher his past and confront the spectral forces that keep him awash in pain. Experiments with drugs and modern art and gay sex with strangers on the street further his quest. The film's rambling plot and cryptic psychological through line are reminiscent of Mike Leigh's NAKED, but Lafia's San Francisco is distinctly new: a dreamy, atmospheric mindscape in which the odd ray of sunlight only enhances Hilbert's isolation in this multi-layered, sexy feature.

First-time San Francisco director Marc Lafia has created a beautiful and mysterious film that manages to be both artistic and accessible as it takes us deep into the hero's psyche in search of answers that may or may not be there to find. And a sensitive performance by Ramsay makes us care.