A Very Natural Thing
| A Very Natural Thing | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Christopher Larkin |
| Produced by | Christopher Larkin |
| Written by |
Joseph Coencas Christopher Larkin |
| Starring |
Robert Joel Curt Gareth Bo White Anthony McKay Marilyn Meyers |
| Music by |
Gordon Gottlieb Bert Lucarelli Samuel Barber |
| Cinematography | C.H. Douglass |
| Edited by | Terry Manning |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
A Very Natural Thing is a 1974 film about a gay man named David who leaves a monastery to become a public school teacher by day, while looking for true love in a gay bar by night.
It was one of the first films about gay relationships intended for mainstream, commercial distribution. The original title of the film was For as Long as Possible. It was directed by Christopher Larkin and was released to lukewarm reviews in 1973 and given an R rating by the Motion Picture Association of America.
The film begins as a mini-documentary of New York City's 1973 Gay Pride parade and rally, with a young lesbian unabashedly declaring, "being gay is a very natural thing." The action cuts to the protagonist, David (Robert Joel), going through the ritual of being released from his vocation as a monk in a monastery. He then is seen as a public school teacher of English Literature in the New York City area, who spends his time off driving into the city to be with his "oldest friend from Schenectady," Alan (Jay Pierce) at a gay bar. One evening at the bar, David is singled out to dance by Mark (Curt Gareth), who portrays a businessman. They end up spending the night together, which at first seems like a one-night stand until David says he'd like to see Mark again, and Mark agrees. Not long after, the pair begin a monogamous relationship, and David moves in with Mark. But when Mark wants to have sex with other men, the relationship starts to break down. He rejects the idea of modeling a gay relationship on heterosexual marriage, and he is irritated that David wants to "keep pushing this romantic thing." Mark would rather have an understanding that either of them can have sex with other men when they feel like it, but this ends up alienating them from each other. Mark refuses to say, "I love you" until David playfully wrestles with him and tells him, "Say it...again...once more for good measure." After a year, though, David realizes that the two of them are just marking time. The two go to Fire Island for a weekend in an attempt to spice up their relationship, and although David tries to please Mark by entering an orgy, he can't go through with it. After a fight, David temporarily moves in with his friend Alan, who gives David an objective perspective on what happened. In a later encounter with Mark at Coney Island, David finally realizes that there can't be a reconciliation, as Mark is more interested in sex than a romantic relationship.
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Wikipedia