''Montreal Main'' is a Canadian docufiction film, released in 1974. The film was directed by , and written by Vitale,

Allan Moyle Allan Moyle (born 1947 in Shawinigan, Quebec) is a Canadian film director. He is best known for directing the films '' Pump Up the Volume'' (1990) and ''Empire Records'' (1995). Career His first major film was ''Times Square'' (1980). During the ...

and

Stephen Lack Stephen Lack (born January 1, 1946) is a Canadian artist and former actor and screenwriter best known for his leading role in David Cronenberg's ''Scanners'' and Allan Moyle's ''The Rubber Gun'', for which he was nominated for two Genie Awards. ...

. The film centres on Frank (Vitale) and Bozo (Moyle), two friends of ambiguous sexuality living in the bohemian arts community of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Frank develops a friendship with Johnny (John Sutherland), a 12-year-old boy, while Bozo is developing a new relationship with Jackie (Jackie Holden), a friend of Johnny's parents. Although Frank's relationship with Johnny is platonic and non-sexual, the common stereotype of gay men as

pedophiles Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

prone to sexually preying on underage boys begins to colour the community's and Johnny's parents' judgement of the friendship, driving a wedge between them as even Frank is increasingly driven to question his own motivations. The film is also a philosophical exploration of the contrast between

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

and

essentialism Essentialism is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their identity. In early Western thought, Plato's idealism held that all things have such an "essence"—an "idea" or "form". In ''Categories'', Aristotle sim ...

. The same core group of Vitale, Lack and Moyle also collaborated on the 1978 film ''

The Rubber Gun ''The Rubber Gun'' is a 1977 film directed by Allan Moyle and starring Stephen Lack and Pierre Robert. It was nominated for two Genie Awards in 1980. Plot In a book store, smooth-talking hard drug dealer/user and local artist Steve (Stephen Lack) ...

''. The film was rereleased on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in 2009, and was the subject of a critical analysis by

Thomas Waugh Thomas Waugh is a Canadian critic, lecturer, author, actor, and activist, best known for his extensive work on documentary film and eroticism in the history of LGBT cinema and art. A professor emeritus at Concordia University, he taught 41 years ...

and Jason Garrison in 2011, as part of

Arsenal Pulp Press Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, focusing primarily on underrepresented genres such as und ...

' Queer Film Classics series.

Cast

Frank Vitale Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

as Frank *

as Steve * Peter Brawley as Peter *

as Bozo * John Sutherland as Johnny * Jackie Holden as Jackie

References

External links

* 1974 films Canadian LGBT-related films 1974 LGBT-related films LGBT-related drama films Films set in Montreal Films shot in Montreal Canadian independent films Canadian docufiction films English-language Canadian films 1974 drama films 1974 directorial debut films 1970s English-language films 1970s Canadian films {{LGBT-drama-film-stub