Bold, shocking and sexually charged, The Prince should interest anyone that is–or has ever met–a man. Juan Carlos Maldonato, as Jamie, gives a fearless performance, and the plot has some very interesting twists to provoke thought as to the film’s ultimate message. Rather, the film meditates on the contradictions of masculinity–obsession over genital size, number of sexual partners, the constant need for body contact with other men, and how all of those qualities also have innate homoeroticism. We’re guessing that’s why Amazon banned it. At one point, several of the actors even appear to get aroused on camera. The unexpected task of raising a ten-year-old boy provides some laughs, drama and heartfelt moments. That includes lots of man-on-man sex and full frontal nudity so graphic the movie skirts the edge of pornography. Gay couple Erasmus and Paul are suddenly thrown into family life when one finds out they have a grandson. From there The Prince goes on to follow Jamie’s coming of age, and examine some very strange contradictions in the ultra-macho–and very homoerotic–world of masculine identity. Upon his arrival, he immediately becomes the bottom for a prison crime lord of sorts. The Prince tells the story of Jamie, a young gay man sent to prison in Chile in the 1970s. Whatever it says, this excellent Chilean film ended up on a list of banned titles by Amazon the first week of its release.
Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a rewatch.
