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Bent
Bent
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sean Mathias
Screenplay by	Martin Sherman
Based on	Bent by ; Martin Sherman
Produced by	Michael Solinger; Dixie Linder; Martin Sherman
Starring	Lothaire Bluteau; Clive Owen; Brian Webber; Ian McKellen; Mick Jagger;
Cinematography	Yorgos Arvanitis
Edited by	Isabelle Lorente
Music by	Philip Glass
Production; company	Channel Four Films
Distributed by	FilmFour Distributors
Release dates	26 November 1997 (USA); 6 March 1998 (UK);
Running time	105 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; Japan
Language	English
Box office	$0.5 million

Bent is a 1997 British-Japanese drama film directed by Sean Mathias, based on the 1979 play of the same name by Martin Sherman, who also wrote the screenplay. It revolves around the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany after the murder of SA leader Ernst Röhm on the Night of the Long Knives.

Plot

Max is a promiscuous gay man living in 1930s Berlin. He is at odds with his wealthy family because of his homosexuality. One evening, much to the resentment of his boyfriend, Rudy, Max brings home a handsome Sturmabteilung (SA) man. Unfortunately, he does so on the Night of the Long Knives, when Adolf Hitler ordered the assassination of upper echelon SA corps. The Sturmabteilung man is discovered and killed by SS men in Max and Rudy's apartment, and the two have to flee Berlin.

Max's Uncle Freddie has organised new papers for Max, but Max refuses to leave his boyfriend behind. As a result, Max and Rudy are found and arrested by the Gestapo and put on a train headed for Dachau. On the train, Rudy is brutally beaten to death by the guards. As Rudy calls out to Max when he is taken away, Max lies to the guards, denying he is gay. In the camp, Max falls in love with Horst, who shows him the dignity that lies in acknowledging one's beliefs. After Horst's death, Max finds the courage to be true to himself and takes his own life.

Cast

Clive Owen as Max
Lothaire Bluteau as Horst
Ian McKellen as Uncle Freddie
Brian Webber II as Rudy
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Wolf
Mick Jagger as Greta
Jude Law as Stormtrooper
Paul Bettany as Captain
Rachel Weisz as Prostitute

Reception

Critical reception

Bent has an overall approval rating of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.4/10. The site's consensus reads: "Bent juggles heavy topics with style, though its heavy-handedness at times feels more like exploitation than exploration".^[2]

The film grossed $496,059 in the United States and Canada and $46,697 in the United Kingdom^[3]^[1]