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Dog Tags



cast :

Paul Preiss, Amy Lindsay, Candy Clark, Hoyt Richards, Bart Fletcher

crew :

Directed by: Damion Dietz
Written by: Damion Dietz
Produced by: Damion Dietz and Stephanie Kircher
DOP: Terrance C. Pratt
Editor: Denise Howard
Music Score by: Jeffery Alan Jones

release date :

2008

Damion Dietz has a reputation for making the kind of camp, trashy indie films that represent the main bulk of underground queer cinema. With his seventh film, ‘Dog Tags’ (2008), Dietz moves away from the sensationalised camp of his previous movies and embarks on something far more edgy and serious. The story of ‘Dog Tags’ concentrates on the character of Nate Merritt (Paul Preiss), a young man with few prospects whose only chance of getting further in life and out of his mother's bungalow is to enlist in the Marines. During a break after combat training, Nate wanders the desert in Palm Springs and after a close encounter with an amateur pornographer he meets fellow drifter, Andy Forte (Bart Fletcher); a free-spirited gay man who is trying to shake off the memories of a previous love affair and start a new life. They become fast friends and Nate finds within Andy a shoulder to lean on and eventually, a lover. Together they make a journey of discovery as the true identity of Nate's father is revealed and Andy learns to accept his responsibilities and come to terms with the past.


The film begins where it ends, with Nate standing in the grounds of an empty drive-in theatre staring into the distance at the gigantic blank screen. Dietz uses the motif of a blank screen several times through the film, such as a painted white panel on Nate's mothers’ garage and when Andy presents Nate with an empty photo frame. The connection between these images conveys a need to make a fresh start; the screen waiting for images to be projected upon it like a palimpsest scrubbed clean in order to make room for a new story to be written upon it. The drive-in holds a lot of importance during the plot as it possesses the clues to who Nate's biological father is and it is suggested that it was here that Nate was possibly conceived, another reference to the idea of new beginnings.


After their escape from the pornographer, Andy tells Nate about his plans to break free from "the material world" and travel the country to find his calling. He and Nate then look onwards towards the horizon. The screen then fades to white as their conversation hangs on the word "infinite". Andy quotes this conversation several times during the film as it is the catalyst of a stirring of ideas and a change within Nate. With Andy's encouragement, Nate calls the number that he believes belongs to his father. Despite deeply upsetting his mother (Candy Clark), Nate is elated when he arranges an appointment to finally meet the man who could potentially be his father. However, after a case of mistaken identity, Nate is left with no clue as to who his father could be.


After he throws his girlfriend, Trish (Amy Lindsay) out for cheating on him with another man and discovering from his mother (who played matchmaker to the couple) that Trish's affairs were common knowledge whilst he was away, Nate shakes off the controlling forces of the women in his life. Leaving with Andy, he takes the reins on his life and becomes independent from his mother. Sexually confused, Nate ends up falling for the free-spirited Andy. The blurring of Nate's sexual identity is apparent from earlier scenes with his fiancée where he appears unable to satisfy her needs sexually although not for lack of effort. Even having shaved his head and gotten a tattoo under her instruction he is not a complete man to her. It also seems apparent that Nate's enlistment into the Marines is not something he went into wholeheartedly as he seems reluctant to leave; the recruiter has to actually pick him up from the family home. During his time with Andy, he contemplates going AWOL and removes his dog tags choosing to wear them only under his own terms and not for anybody else. By doing this, Nate removes himself from the ideals set up for him by his mother choosing to follow Andy's example, living an unconventional existence. Nate feels that he has to do what is expected of him by other people, namely the women in this life and by releasing himself from the expectations of others, Nate embraces his own identity as a gay man although he does not declare this aloud unlike Andy who is open about his sexuality.


Nate could however be defined as bi-curious; he does not seem to identify with coming out, instead choosing to follow his heart rather than having to conform to being either gay or straight. Although there is passion on Nate's role in his relationship with his fiancée Trish, there is no love there. After throwing her out he only laments about it for a short period and in some respects seems relieved to be rid of her. If he was truly in love with her, they may have stood a chance as they were intending to get married but ultimately it seems that Nate has escaped another trap set by the women in his life. Although having been emasculated by his mother and Trish, his decision to pursue a gay relationship is at odds with the concept of revalidating his male assertion and identity.


Stereotypically the gay male is seen as less of a man than his straight counterpart. By taking control of his identity in such a way, Nate shows all around him that he is proud of who he is and no longer afraid to assert himself against the forces of conformity. As a previously non-gay character Nate has revealed his potential to withhold gay tendencies and by realising his 'object choice' he is free to enter a gay relationship because he has recognised that he wants to. There is a difference between wanting something and doing something; Nate probably did not want to get married in haste, try for a child or enlist in the Marines but he did it anyway. When he begins his relationship with Andy, he begins to do things that he actually wants to regardless of what people feel. This is not a magic transformation for Nate, he still harbours insecurities, not knowing what gay men do, he joins with Andy in wearing alternative clothing and eyeliner, perhaps wondering if this is what he is supposed to do. By wearing the make-up and clothes, Nate is creating a defensive barrier around himself for the battle ahead - confronting his mother about the truth.


Andy's story is different to Nate's although they share parallels in that they both seek change in their lives. Like Nate, Andy lives in Los Angeles with his mother Louise, a neurotic retired actress who spends her time looking after Andy's baby son, Travis, the product of a drunken one-night stand similar to Nate's parentage. After meeting Nate, he feels connected to him due to a relationship he had in the past with a Marine who looked strikingly similar to Nate. There are echoes of their relationship throughout the film with flashbacks mirroring the action shown during scenes when Andy and Nate are spending time together. Dietz uses this strategy to great effect with the flashbacks flickering from the past to the present, the softer features of Andy's first love displacing Nate's chiselled face and Andy's eyeliner vanishing and coming back, distorting the passage of time. Just as Nate is a mirror to Andy's past, giving him closure to his old relationship; Andy and Travis give Nate the opportunity to prevent history repeating again by encouraging Andy to be a good father to Travis as he never knew his own.


Nate's father is eventually revealed to be Gene (Hoyt Richards), a Vietnam war veteran, suffering with post-traumatic stress and crippling alcoholism. For Nate, the answer to who his father is had been right in front of his eyes for his whole life as Gene rented an annexe of their house from Debbie, Nate's mother, whom he had a one-night stand with at the drive-in. Debbie speaks fondly about Nate's father, but she has removed her ideal of the man she remembered from Gene. Even Nate pays Gene no attention when he tries to talk to Nate before he leaves for his combat training. Sadly, Gene has no idea that he is Nate's father and although he attempts to make that connection at the end of the film, Debbie does not tell him, and despite Nate knowing, he does not disclose this information either. Only once Nate comes to terms with the idea of Gene being his father, he can begin to see the parallels between them and realises that he must prevent becoming like Gene. By recognising this, Nate is able to move on in a new direction, comfortable within the identity he has formed from the relationships he is surrounded by. By letting Nate go, Andy too is able to leave his past behind having been given a second chance to say goodbye to his lover. By learning from the people around them, Nate and Andy are both given a second chance to repair their lives and start afresh in this poignant and inspiring film.


Watch


Country: USA
Budget: £
Length: 90mins


Pub/2008


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