SYNOPSIS
Basil Dearden’s ground breaking thriller Victim was first released in 1961, with its location shooting, noirish lighting, and doomed characters it was instrumental in paving the way for the legalisation of homosexuality in Britain.
Dirk Bogarde, Britain’s most reveared matinee idol, risked his career to protray Melville Farr, a closeted gay lawyer, at a time when homosexual acts were a crime. When his former lover Jack (Peter McEnery) is blackmailed, Farr – who is married – agrees to investigate. The case is complicated by his fear of being exposed and a sudden mysterious death.
In addition to its pioneering treatment of a long-repressed crime, Victim is also notable for its sympathetic and non-stereotypical depictions gay men.
Victim will be return to British cinemas from July 2005 on new prints released by Park Circus Films.
