"Keep The Lights On” More Than A Gay Movie, It’s Transparency in Gay Life

  

 Keep the Lights On chronicles an emotionally and sexually charged journey of two men in New York City through love, friendship, and addiction. Documentary filmmaker Erik (Thure Lindhardt) and closeted lawyer Paul (Zachary Booth, Damages) meet through a casual encounter, but soon find a deeper connection and become a couple. Individually and together, they are risk takers – compulsive, and fueled by drugs and sex. In an almost decade-long relationship defined by highs, lows, and dysfunctional patterns, Erik struggles to negotiate his own boundaries and dignity while being true to himself. Director Ira Sachs’ fearlessly personal screenplay is anchored by Lindhardt, who embodies Erik’s isolation and vulnerability with a gentle presence. Harrowing and romantic, visceral and layered, Keep the Lights On is a film that looks at love and all of its manifestations, taking it to dark depths and bringing it back to a place of grace.

Similarly, is there anything specifically Angelenos can take away from your film? Your work speaks to multiple audiences; however, are there certain themes, images, or concepts that may hit Angelenos deeper than other viewers?

The film at its center is about two men and their relationship.

But it’s also about a certain kind of urban community that many of us live in that is no longer defined as gay or straight. Those borders don’t exist any more in the same way, fortunately. I live in New York, but I’m sure that in Los Angeles, as well the lines between people, the identity we take on as individuals, has been blurred. This is also a film about a community. It’s an art community and a literary community, so I’m hoping it connects to Los Angeles viewers in that way.