Victim: A Film Review

Starring:  Dirk Bogarde

Running Time:  96 minutes

Louis Farr is a man with a secret; and a successful career in law and a loving, beautiful wife give his secret a much greater weight.  Louis Farr is homosexual–a crime punishable by prison time in his home of late 1960’s London.  He is a member of a faceless subculture, one of men on the fringes of society, ashamed of their feelings of love for one another.  Farr is content with denying his lustful urges for one particular young man, and reaping the benefits of good reputation.  Content, of course, until he finds that his would-be lover committed suicide in prison under the pressures of blackmail. 

A very controversial and challenging film for its time, Victim deserves a great deal of praise.  Quickly, though, I will mention one of the pitfalls of the film:  the soundtrack.  The orchestra is much too dramatic–even for a film containing such grave social commentary.

Moving on, one of many of the film’s triumphs lies in its “normalcy.”  There are no queens, and no overdone effeminate gesticulations–just people trying to keep themselves out of the glaring eye of public scrutiny.  Not to mention, Farr’s sexuality is not rigid.  He feels what can be categorized as lust for “Boy” Barrett, the aforementioned young man; this does not mean that his love for his wife is a false one.

In fact, Mrs. Farr is aware (although not happily) of her husband’s potential bisexuality.  She knew before they married, and hoped a ring of Louis Farr’s finger would calm his… “tendencies.”  However, once the blackmailers get too close for comfort, Mrs. Farr does not falter–preferring to remain supportive of her husband’s stand:  to have the law against homosexuality challenged in court.

So, what makes this sensitive take on homosexuality so special?  The fight.  Farr sacrifices his untarnished career to bring this injustice to the foreground.  Whether or not you are interested in LGBTQ issues, this is an important film to take a look at.  It will help to shatter even today’s misconceptions of the social boundaries placed on sexuality and love.