How could I have missed PINK ULYSSES (Eric de Kuyper, 1990)? A clear descendent of PINK NARCISSUS (James Bidgood, 1971) , a contrast, and perhaps to some antidote,  to Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY, it’s queer desire, palpitating and in heat, wrought from a collage of found, perhaps nicked  is the better word, materials from a previous history of culture where traces of it could be made manifest: opera, Zarah Leander, Athletic Guild Model Films, the films of Sergei Eisenstein, the music of Igor Stravinsky, silent epics with Greece or Rome as a setting. It’s tied together through film tableaus of various episodes including Penelope waiting for Ulysses but somewhat longing for her son, Telemachus, who in turns longs for the return of his father with a desire that is not without a sexual component. A reverie of longing, fevered dreams, struggles with desire. Queering of classics couldn’t have found a better expression or example. It would make a wonderful double bill with PINK NARCISSUS. Nolan’s ODYSSEY is too long to be double-billed with anything.

José Arroyo