{"id":245442,"date":"2012-10-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-12T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-somewhat-true-story-of-addiction\/"},"modified":"2012-10-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-12T07:00:00","slug":"a-somewhat-true-story-of-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-somewhat-true-story-of-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"A (somewhat) true story of addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ira Sachs\u2019 \u2018Keep the Lights On\u2019 plays for 1 week only at the Ken<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Antonio Rey | Editor SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A
(l to r) Thure Lindhardt and Zachary Booth star in \u2018Keep the Lights On\u2019 (Photo by Jean-Christophe Husson\/Music Box Films)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The latest film from Ira Sachs, \u201cKeep the Lights On,\u201d depicts two topics familiar to many: love and addiction. They intertwine, however, as the real story emerges while watching. It\u2019s the story of one character\u2019s addiction to another.<\/p>\n

Co-written and directed by Sachs, the film follows the relationship of documentary filmmaker Erik (played by Danish-film star Thure Lindhardt) and closeted lawyer Paul (Zachary Booth). Paul has an addiction to drugs. Erik, the film\u2019s hero, has an addiction to love and, ultimately, Paul.<\/p>\n

The two meet as a casual hookup when, after having sex, Paul immediately pushes back Erik\u2019s interest because of an existing girlfriend.<\/p>\n

It will not be the relationship\u2019s last red flag.<\/p>\n

Produced by Music Box Films, \u201cKeep the Lights On\u201d chronicles the pair for over a decade, beginning in 1998. Sex, drug use, monogamy, HIV and the past are all topics; Erik\u2019s grasp for love is the uniting force.<\/p>\n

Sachs based the story in part on the ending of his own long-term relationship, which also spanned several years in New York City. Retold through Paul and Erik\u2019s relationship, Sachs was particularly fascinated by the universal story of two people staying together against multiple odds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was aware so succinctly that there had been a first day and a last day, and there was such an incredible story between the two ends,\u201d Sachs said in a press release, regarding his own relationship. \u201cThe course of that experience was so clear in my mind in terms of its narrative power.\u201d<\/p>\n

For \u201cKeep the Lights On,\u201d he chronicled his own relationship by going through emails, journals, notes and other items collected through the years. Not simply a gay story, Sachs said it is ultimately a film about relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t necessarily approach it as a film about gay life per se,\u201d he said. \u201cI approached it as a film about a relationship in New York at this specific time that happens to be between two men.\u201d<\/p>\n

The director\u2019s previous work includes \u201cMarried Life,\u201d \u201cThe Delta\u201d and \u201cForty Shades of Blue.\u201d His most previous film, \u201cLast Address,\u201d is a short work honoring a group of New York City artists who died of AIDS complications. It played at the 2011 Venice Biennale and is part of the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art.<\/p>\n

Sachs is also the founder and co-curator of Queer\/Art\/Film, a monthly series held at the IFC Center in New York City, and the Queer\/Art\/Mentorship program that supports work between queer artists, also in the city. The subject of gay artists permeates \u201cKeep the Lights On,\u201d from Erik\u2019s documentary work on a forgotten gay artist to cellist Arthur Russell\u2019s influence in the score.<\/p>\n

Lindhardt said his role as Erik is about loving himself. The Danish actor\u2019s United States work includes \u201cInto the Wild\u201d and \u201cAngels & Demons.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Paul, Sachs chose Booth, who is perhaps best known for his role in the television series \u201cDamages.\u201d His film work includes \u201cThe Beaver,\u201d \u201cTaking Woodstock\u201d and \u201cNick and Norah\u2019s Infinite Playlist.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Zachary Booth in the Ira Sachs film (Photo by Jean-Christophe Husson\/Music Box Films)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe blew us all away when he auditioned,\u201d Sachs said. \u201cZachary [Booth] possesses a very human quality that audiences can feel when they watch him.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is hard to say who has the more difficult role, as Booth has to work through Paul\u2019s addiction to drugs while Lindhardt portrays his character\u2019s addiction to Paul \u2013 infatuation, desperation, rejection \u2013 with equal sincerity.<\/p>\n

Outside of the film, and to keep in line with Sachs\u2019 storytelling desire, producers of the film created keepthelightsonfilm.com where visitors can submit personal stories about their own day-to-day struggles of being in a relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep the Lights On\u201d opens for a special one-week engagement Friday, Oct. 12 at the Landmark Ken Cinema, located at 4061 Adams Ave. For more information, including show times, visit landmarktheatres.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ira Sachs\u2019 \u2018Keep the Lights On\u2019 plays for 1 week only at the Ken By Anthony King | SDUN Editor The latest film from Ira Sachs, \u201cKeep the Lights On,\u201d depicts two topics familiar to many: love and addiction. They intertwine, however, as the real story emerges while watching. It\u2019s the story of one character\u2019s […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"A (somewhat) true story of addiction","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}