Despite an obviously low budget, August is incredibly stylish. Eldar Rapaport clearly understands how to photograph his subjects. His film exists almost out of time, feeling more like a '40s romance than a contemporary gay film. Consider how he photogrpahs his leads smoking; the habit hasn't looked this sexy since Tom Ford's A Single Man.
Rapaport has an obvious asset in Adrian Gonzalez. The guy could scarcely be more photogenic and he plainly understands how to act to the camera in a way the other actors don't fully grasp. Murray Bartlett isn't a liability, and he and Gonzalez have an interesting dynamic together. When they kiss in the final reel, it feels as though this is the moment the film's been building to all along.
Daniel Dugan is problematic. As he's at the center of the love triangle between two better-looking, more interesting men, the whole premise regularly feels inexplicable. Only Rapaport's ability to create and sustain sexual tension keeps Dugan from weighing the film down entirely.
Rapaport is hardly a genius, but he has a grasp on the medium that makes him an exciting emerging gay director. I'm concerned his influence, as shown by his color palette and the Spanish-infused score, is too heavily based on Almodovar. He also has clear difficulties constructing a timeline. Middling editing does no favors for the film's pace; character relationships and the course of events are ill-defined. Nevertheless, Rapaport is one to watch.
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