Madagascar Skin

Running time: 96 mins

Harry has been "cursed" with a large facial birthmark in the shape of the island of Madagascar. Fleeing the local gay scene, his feelings of loneliness are curbed with an unusual meeting between him and another societal outcast named Flint, a somewhat older and more bitter man. Illegally taking over an abandoned cottage, the two men begin to regain their lost trust in humankind. Although at first uneasy with Flint's easy-going and unscrupulous approach to life, Harry's instinctual need for physical contact unchains his mind allowing his attraction to the heterosexual Flint flourish. As he begins to fancy Flint's robustness, pleasurable musings populate Harry's mind while Flint soon after becomes engaged in his own dream world. It soon becomes clear, however, that their tiny "island" of Madagascar is about to become smaller when tensions quickly rise to critical levels. Following up his last film Anchoress (screened at the 1994 Cinequest), director Chris Newby mixes his own unique blend of humor and romance to bring a very charming romance to the screen; a story whose characters must re-invent their ideas of love and discover the importance which friendship brings to life. Madagascar Skin is an artful and sensual boy-meets-boy story. --Mike Rabehl