50 Ways of Saying Fabulous

Rural New Zealand forms a stylised background to this unusual rites-of-passage drama which combines whimsy, pathos and cruelty for a rather unique inquisition into growing up gay in the 1970s.

Adapting a novel by Graeme Aitken, the story mainly centres on the awkward 'coming out' of a 12-year boy, an outcast at school who dreams of being a space-woman and fumbles through friendships with an aggressive tomboy, gawky 'new chum' and a labourer on his father's farm. Quirky in a thoroughly ambitious way, dir. Main's followup to DESPERATE REMEDIES is disconcerting, kitschy and original - worth a look for adventurous audiences. Score by Peter Scholes.

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