The Naked Ghost Festival of Thailand

When I visited Thailand, I was busy dealing with my ex-boyfriend Alan's drama.  So I didn't have time to drive 6 hours north of Bangkok to Dan Sai, near the Laotian border.

It's a small town with a folk museum and a famous pagoda, but not much else to draw tourists away from Bangkok and Pattaya.  Except for the Phi Ta Khon Festival ("Ghosts with Human Eyes"), held every year at different times depending on the spiritual conditions (in 2014, on the weekend of June 27th).

It commemorates an event in the life of the Buddha's last incarnation, Prince Vessantara.  He fell asleep, and his followers thought he was dead.  They decided to celebrate his escape from samsara, and made so much noise that he woke "from the dead."

The festival begins begins with a Buddhist ceremony that invokes guardian spirits, followed by a procession of the men in the village, nude except for rice-husk loincloths, covered with river mud, waving giant wooden phalluses of various sizes and shapes.

The male spectators wave phallic charms (paladkik) or giant phalluses of their own, inscribed with characters meaning "Big Man."  Apparently guardian spirits likes penises.

On the second day, there's another parade (Hae), with more semi-nude men, but generally more elaborate costumes of ghosts and monsters, with ornate masks.  Crossdressing is common.  As are penises so large that they're hard to carry.

There are prizes for the best costumes and dances.  Plus phallic rockets (Bangfai Ko) and partying all night.

The third day is devoted to Buddhist sermons, prayer and meditation.

The Innocents: In the South of France, Everybody Wants Everybody

Movies and tv programs typically permit same-sex relationships only when they are interracial.  The racial stratification "stands in" for gender stratification, male-female transposed into white-black in America, British-Indian in Britain, and in France French-Arab.

In The Innocents (1987), André Téchiné uses several French-Arab relationships to mirror the tensions between France and its former colonies.

The gay teenager Alain (stage actor Stephane Onfroy, in his only film appearance) has been living in the southern port city of Toulon with the Algerian Said (Abdel Kechiche), a thief and hustler.

Said's main client is the German musician Klotz (Jean-Claude Brialy), who has an Arab fetish.

Alain's sister Jeanne (Sandrine Bonnaire) arrives to look for a reconciliation, and moves in with Said and Alain.

She begins relationships with both Said and Klotz's son Stéphane (Simon de la Brosse), who is bisexual also, but has a mysterious antipathy to Said.  She suspects that they were formerly lovers.

Confused yet?  Don't be: just think "Everybody is interested in everybody," and concentrate on the beach scenes.

Turns out that Stéphane belongs a radical racist organization which set fire to an immigrant hostel, and was stabbed by Said in retribution.

They argue over Jeanne, and Stéphane has his organization target Said.

The only innocent is the gay teenager, Alain.

Many of the cast members have a gay connection.

Simon de la Brosse (1965-1998) was working as a waiter when he was discovered by gay talent agent Dominique Besnehard. for the heterosexual-awakening Pauline at the Beach (1983).  He was reputedly gay or bisexual in real life.

Jean-Claude Brialy (1933-2007) was gay.

Abdel Kechiche went on to direct the lesbian-themed Blue is the Warmest Color (2013).

The movie is not out on DVD, but you can see it on Full TV