Institute History
Description
Returning with the world premiere of his most ambitious and narratively complex film to date, Bruce LaBruce (Super 8 1/2) takes his filmmaking to a completely new level. With noted photographer Rick Castro on board as codirector, Hustler White takes you on a wild ride along the streets of Santa Monica Boulevard (the boy toy walk of fame) as only these two can show it to you. We enter this deluded utopian fantasy hot on the trail (or tail) of Monti, the streetwise, yet clumsy, accident-prone hustler, played by Tony Ward. Perhaps best known for his work alongside Madonna in the “Justify My Love” and “Cherish” videos and as a model on scores of magazine covers, Tony has abandoned the catwalk temporarily to create a role that only Joe Dallesandro in his prime could have played. Along with Bruce and an array of underground dignitaries and porn divas, we track Monti through his typical routine of various sordid and bizarre encounters with hustlers, johns, and pornographers.
It is easy to be flip or camp about a film like this, especially when it’s a hell of a lot of fun, but with all the “quasi” and “semi” (I prefer ”whimpy”) underground filmmaking going on these days, Bruce is the real thing. He promises that Hustler White is merely the first installment of a Hustler trilogy (think Kielowski), a promise to which I will hold him. There is always one film each year that I giggle at through the whole screening, shocked, one moment, petrified the next, and know I have to show it. This year Hustler White is it.