‘Dragula’ commands our attention
Photo by Katherine Rountree
Written by Alexander Cheves
Finishing up my coverage of the LGBT films at the 2014 Savannah Film Festival, I caught the short film “Dragula” at the Trustees Theater last Saturday.
Following a lineup of powerful, hard-hitting films about LGBT issues screened throughout the week, the final day began with a sweet story about a shy, reserved teenager who discovers his confidence in the world of drag.
After films like “The Normal Heart” and “The Imitation Game,” “Dragula” takes us back to the innocent beginning of gay life: high school. On his first trip to a gay bar, nervous Charles (August Roads) witnesses the legendary Barry Bostwick do a number in drag as “Dragula,” a gothic queen accompanied by four muscular male dancers. The experience changes Charles’ life forever when, the next day, he announces to his friends he will do a drag performance for the school talent show.
It’s good to see Bostwick back in heels. In 1975, the actor landed the role of Brad Majors in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” His onscreen singing, dancing and romance with Susan Sarandon launched him to fame and embedded him forever in the hearts of midnight moviegoers everywhere. In gay culture — also known as “Hollywood” — Bostwick’s name is legend.
At the beginning of the film, young Charles is just a little too doe-eyed to be believed. “Why are all these men looking at me?” he asks his friends upon entering the bar, as if all the leather harnesses and fishnet stockings weren’t adequate clues.
The shining performance of the film is delivered by his mother, actress Missi Pyle (who played the horrifying mother of Violet Beauregarde in Tim Burton’s 2005 remake of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”). When she catches him practicing in his room — shaking his hips in a lacy black corset — her rather large, stern eyes guarantee anger. The next scene shows her applying his makeup in the bathroom, promising, “No matter what, you can always come to me for anything.”
In a moment, she becomes the mother we all wanted when we first felt the countercultural urge. When the day of the talent show comes, she ushers the family into the auditorium, telling her husband, “This is a big day for Charles.” For such a short film, it is packed with so many moments of sweetness that we wish Charles himself was a bit more, well, glamorous. He’s a little stiff and distant the whole time, while Bostwick’s Dragula overpowers everyone with her charisma and the sheer size of her wig.
It was a great finale to a roster of LGBT-focused films at this year’s festival. Collectively, the films show all parts of gay rights: the heartbreak of AIDS in “The Normal Heart,” the injustice of the law in “The Imitation Game,” and the still hostile climates for gay people today in “Hunted: The War Against Gays in Russia.” Thankfully, “Dragula” reminds us that change begins with courage and with someone — in this case, Dragula herself — announcing, “I will not be ignored!”
