The Living End (1992)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Gregg Araki

Writer:

Gregg Araki (writer)

Release Date:

21 August 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

An Irresponsible Movie by Gregg Araki

Plot:

Luke is a gay hustler. Jon is a movie critic. Both are HIV positive. They go on a hedonistic, dangerous journey, their motto "Fuck the world"

Plot Keywords:

Hiv | Hustler | Gay | Sex | Road

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Mike Dytri	...	Luke
Craig Gilmore	...	Jon
Mark Finch	...	Doctor
Mary Woronov	...	Daisy
Johanna Went	...	Fern
Darcy Marta	...	Darcy
Scot Goetz	...	Peter
Brett Vail	...	Ken (as Bretton Vail)
Nicole Dillenberg	...	Barbie
Stephen Holman	...	7-11 Couple
Magie Song	...	7-11 Couple
Peter Lanigan	...	Three Stooges
Jon Gerrans	...	Three Stooges
Jack Kofman	...	Three Stooges
Chris Mabli	...	NeoNazi (as Christopher Mabli)

Runtime:

92 min | Spain:84 min | UK:84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Australia:R | New Zealand:R18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Desperate Pictures

Quotes:

Jon: I'm not going to fondle your crotch right now.
Luke: Why not?
Jon: Because I'm a responsible driver.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Cloning (#2.23)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Decisions

A blast from the past and if you've lived at all, a tremendous piece of gay sub-culture Americana.

By chance, this movie caught my attention late-night and I was lucky enough to watch from start to finish. As much of a docudrama as it is a character study from the early gay nineties, some people may find this flick utter crap, or at the very least, sophomoric. To those people, I suggest sticking to "Eight Below" or anything starring Reese Witherspoon.

As the viewer, I felt transported back to 1992, having been 25 years old at the time this movie was released with no idea it even existed. The somewhat surrealistic, exploratory journey between the two main characters brings back so many memories from a time where such strange pairings and outrageous actions seemed to occur regularly. Whether you grew up in Dallas, LA, or New York makes no difference; chances are you knew any one of the characters from this film in some aspect.

At times overtly philosophical, others completely abstract, the exploration of two peoples' mental struggle with HIV was at least done from an unflinching perspective. This is a case study in human nature, no matter how uncomfortable the subject matter. It also proves that the nature of the beast hasn't changed and that HIV/AIDs still isn't really a priority of the U.S. government...at least, not in any beneficial way to those afflicted. Be sure to stick around for the final message in the film credits and see if you can tell if anything has changed in the last fifteen years.

As a special treat, if you've ever been a fan of industrial/electronica from the Wax Trax! label (among others), you'll recognize some great stuff, from Chris and Cosey, Coil, KMFDM, and even Psychic TV.