Can you imagine an elderly, dignified German-accented conductor of a major symphony orchestra comparing the voice and musicality of some Britney Spears-type pop tart to Maria Callas or Kirsten Flagstad (analogous to Giles comparing "Hotpants College II" to Shakespeare and Ronnie's acting to Olivier's), and replacing the bust of Wagner in his study with magazine cutouts of the girl? It would be hilarious.
That would be great. But there are plenty of literary and cinematic examples of culturally mismatched couples - George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage, etc. Of course, they lack the obsessive stalking element.
You're right that both the age and social class mismatches have been beaten to death, but modernized reimaginings of the obsession and stalking in
Death in Venice have only barely been explored. So what I'm suggesting is a heterosexual, contemporary re-imagining of
Death in Venice. The homosexual aspect of DiV (and this film) is in some ways a distraction because homosexuality has been so politicized as a "social issue," when in fact the sexual orientation of the protagonist is completely peripheral to the story and its principal themes. If Giles were obsessed with Audrey rather than Ronnie, we'd basically have the same movie, minus the baggage of the "gay film" label.
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Quicksilver1900
11 years ago
Creating drama or comedy out of class differences seems to be something that works better in Britain. In the US, there is always the presumption that everyone is basically equal, and can rise to whatever social status they aspire to, and it offends people to even suggest that there are class differences, as opposed to economic differences which can be speedily changed. I am thinking of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
In the UK, there was quite a long-running 80s comedy called The Other 'Arf, that showed an older upper middle class conservative MP and a cockney fashion model who fell in love.
It is an interesting question as to why LaDoLI featured a homosexual attraction, apart from it being faithful to Mann's book as a modern re-telling. Perhaps to make Giles' pursuit even more inappropriate than it would have been if he had fixated on Audrey..?
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Edward_de_Vere
11 years ago
It is an interesting question as to why LaDoLI featured a homosexual attraction, apart from it being faithful to Mann's book as a modern re-telling. Perhaps to make Giles' pursuit even more inappropriate than it would have been if he had fixated on Audrey..?
There's also the fact that it's easier for a gay man to approach another man under false pretenses (provided that he's not obviously gay) than for a straight man to approach a young, attractive woman under false pretenses.
If Giles were a heterosexual character and obsessed with Audrey, she would immediately suspect that an old man trying to insinuate himself into her life had a hidden agenda. Since there was nothing overtly gay about Giles's manners, Ronnie had no reason to even suspect that Giles was driven by lust and desire until the moment of his confession (though Audrey caught on somewhat earlier, having seen through some of Giles' more obvious lies, e.g. the god-daughter, etc).
So a straight LaDOLI would be harder to pull off with the same plot (i.e. the object of affection completely oblivious to the reasons and engaging in friendship), while doing the same for
Death and Venice (where Eschenbach never really makes contact with the object of his obsession) would work reasonably well.
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Quicksilver1900
11 years ago
One thing that hasn't been discussed is how hurt Audrey was when she saw that Giles preferred Ronnie to her. She was quite disappointed that Giles did not want to join her in the city. And she was clearly humiliated when her plan to expose Giles backfired (the phone call to the imaginary goddaughter), and Ronnie berated her as a consequence.
She had initially been so proud of her 'find' - Giles - and wanted to share him with Ronnie. It was quite a blow to realise she had been a pawn in the hands of a clever manipulator.
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rascal67
11 years ago
Near the end, in the diner when Giles confesses to Ronnie, he tells him that...it is obvious to me....in regards to Ronnie's relationship with Audrey, that it wont last. This statement was also a subtle suggestion, that Ronnie was also latent about his own sexuality.
The passing of Giles' wife and his somewhat isolated lifestyle, he had started to confront this aspect of his own nature. Seeing Ronnie in the film, was the catalyst for this acknowledgement, it was also obsession as well. This was the irony of the statement mentioned above; that it was really just a whim and delusion of Giles', that he and Ronnie could have actually had a sexual relationship that would have worked out, just as he saw Ronnie's relationship with Audrey wasn't going to last either.
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Quicksilver1900
11 years ago
That is an excellent point. But I have a feeling that Giles was not without prior homosexual experience. If, as I suspect, he went to an all-boys English boarding school, he would have found that homosexual contact is a hallmark of such schools. Most outgrow it when they have access to girls. I think in Giles' case, he was reverting to nostalgia for an earlier, more idealistic time in his life. He may well have had a close friend at school to whom he was very attached.
But I saw nothing to suggest that Ronnie was not completely committed to his r'ship with Audrey. And given his feminine looks, and his celebrity, there is no doubt that he would have had plenty of opportunities to explore homosexual r'ships if he were so inclined.
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rascal67
11 years ago
I concur with you about Giles's past experimental homosexual relationships....possibly at a boarding school. Regardless though, once he would have embarked on his adult life in a hetro relationship with his wife, he would have likely suppressed his same sex attraction—which in my book would have made him bisexual, if he was sexually active with his spouse—but would have always had a decided preference for men; otherwise he would have sought out another female companion. At the end of the day though, it was just simply lust and desire for a younger, sensitive and good looking young man that was the driving force behind Giles' obsession.
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eelb
11 years ago
If Giles were obsessed with Audrey rather than Ronnie, we'd basically have the same movie, minus the baggage of the "gay film" label.
And if Giles was 30 years younger, and if Audrey would say "I love you too" in the final scene at the diner, you would have a mainstream romantic comedy. Leaving the rest of the script intact by the way.
Rock Hudson did a lot of "stalking" of Doris Day back in the day, along similar plot lines.
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