Pluskylang Great Film overall

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

aarcher64-1 A lot has been said about the anachronisms but only to the point that "times are still tough for gay people." My impression is that they have more meaning then that, like were those court reporters portraying the actual reporters present when Mandela was sentenced using prison typewriters? Was that the Land Rover he rode in? Was the cousin dressed as Jackie O. saying something about Kennedy's involvement in S. Africa? There have also been complaints about the limited development of the Scot botanist's role. I believe they didn't spend more time on that because it wasn't necessary and maybe there wasn't more facts from the transcripts available.

Paul Creeden It is no wonder that this film's title is not on the lips of young gay circuit boys. It is a glimpse of our heritage as gay men, however. It reminds us of our own struggle for human rights for centuries in Western culture and in many other cultures of the world. That struggle is not over. In Iran, these atrocities, like the ones depicted in this film, are perpetrated against consenting gay lovers. In Moscow, gay marchers cannot protest without being physically attacked. I find this film profound in that it comes from a country which is struggling with its own economic survival. Yet, this film, of high quality and low cost, was made there. It shames American gay producers, who would never find financing for such an important story. I have tremendous admiration for the makers of this film. Its minor technical failings are negligible, when its overall value to global gay culture is considered. I think it should be required viewing in high school classes on human sexuality. The fact that the film also clearly associates class issues with human rights issues is a refreshing dose of reality.

gwmindallas At the heart of Proteus is a great story - actually two great stories - about the oppression of homosexuality during the 18th century. The main "love" story between Claas and the sailor has the makings of a very dramatic story if told well.Where the movie went wrong, IMO, was mixing costuming, sets and props from different eras. I "get" what the director was trying to do - show us that these problems exist today as much as they did 300 years ago. But the visual jarring of seeing the modern next to the historical kept knocking me out of the plot. Halfway through the movie, I was wondering if this really was a directorial choice or simply a way to reduce costs by using readily available stuff rather than recreating the time period.The secondary story about Virgil never takes off. We are supposed to juxtapose his life with Claas' and see how Claas becomes more accepting of his homosexuality, or at least "love" for another man, while Virgil becomes more closeted as the oppression begins. I never could figure out if Lorenz was Virgil's lover or just a gay friend. In many ways, this movie would have been better served as a straightforward historical drama than attempting to take on multiple plots and risktaking direction.

moviegoer_2 A handsome, classy gem of a movie, imaginatively shot on a very low budget by Greyson the way he did the uneven, yet interesting, "Lilies". I don't want to say much about the plot, which is based on facts, but be prepare for gorgeous scenery, some pointed nodes (to Todd Haynes' Poison, Tom of Fineland and Jean Genet) and completely believable performances by a first-rate, though unknown, cast. A mixed bag of a love story (two men on a penitentiary island; one is white, the other is black; one is gay, the other is not; add a "curious", repressed warden and a definite taste for botanic and you'll have an idea) that actually works, thanks to a refreshing lack of camp. And, for those of you wandering, the title has nothing to do whatsoever with science-fiction, "Proteus" being the name of a beautiful flower used here literally and, most of all, metaphorically. Definitely not your average "gay movie", and certainly not to everyone's taste, "Proteus" is challenging yet generous toward those who are willing for something a little different. Stick with this one.