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Poison

Presented by International House Philadelphia at The Ibrahim Theater at International House

May 6, 2011

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Poison, dir. Todd Haynes, US, 1991, 35mm, 85 mins, color and b/w. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival, Poison was a runaway hit. 20th Anniversary Screening with New 35mm Print. This film made national headlines when it was attacked by right-wing figures, including Dick Armey, Ralph Reed and minister Donald Wildmon. Poison is unsettling, unforgettable and thoroughly entertaining. The second feature by Haynes (Safe, Far From Heaven, I’m Not There), this groundbreaking American indie was the most fervently debated film of the 1990s and a trailblazing landmark of queer cinema. Inspired by the writings of Jean Genet, Poison deftly interweaves a trio of transgressive tales–“Hero”, “Horror” and “Homo”–that build toward a devastating climax. “Hero”, shot in mock TV-documentary style, tells a bizarre story of suburban patricide and a miraculous flight from justice; “Horror”, filmed like a delirious ’50s B-movie melodrama, is a gothic tale of a mad sex experiment which unleashes a disfiguring plague; while “Homo” explores the obsessive sexual relationship between two prison inmates.