THE STORY – Taffeta, a contemporary queer person of colour, summons Abraham Lincoln to perform an elaborate historical fantasia within her own head, only to learn that she can’t hide from her own present-day demons in the shadows of someone else’s past.
THE CAST – Roger Q. Mason, Pete Ploszek & Alex Esola
THE TEAM – Lovell Holder (Director/Writer) & Roger Q. Mason (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 102 Minutes
While history has been good for Abraham Lincoln, he’s also been the subject of some wild interpretations and reimaginings. From the goofy horror movie, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” to “Oh, Mary!” – the absurdist sensation that’s currently the hottest ticket on Broadway – authors and creatives are unafraid of portraying America’s greatest leader in ways that stray far from the typical image of stoicism conjured by Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln.” “Lavender Men” is the latest film to do just that, exploring Honest Abe’s real-life relationship with the army officer Elmer Ellsworth, depicting them as much more than just friends.
But that’s not the only thing on the film’s mind. Framed around this story of forbidden love is the tale of our narrator, Taffeta (played by the film’s co-writer Roger Q. Mason), a fabulously minded and fabulously underappreciated stage manager working on a small play about our 16th president. After a night of rejection from the men in their phones and unwanted attention from an aggressive actor, Taffeta tumbles into the fantasy world of their minds and expounds upon Abe (Pete Ploszek) and his close friendship with Elmer (Alex Esola). In their fantasia, Taffeta conjures up a historic fiction wherein Abe and Elmer’s relationship breaches into the romantic after a tentative but passionate bonding period. At the same time, their courtship forces Taffeta to reflect upon their own love life and personal struggles.
Of course, the theory about Lincoln being gay has been discussed for years, and “Lavender Men” turns that historical subtext into text. But like everything else about the film, Lincoln isn’t realistically brought to life. There’s no beard, no stovetop hat, and little is made of his height. Instead, the film blends time and space in a way that allows the writing to move away from that of typical historical drama.
The film is very clearly based on a play written by Mason. Although the choice to set the story within the world of theater is a smart way to allow for the material to retain its theatrical energy, it doesn’t necessarily make a strong case for why it needed to be adapted to the screen in the first place. Besides some brief excursions outside, nearly the entire film is set within the theater where Taffeta works. It’s an odd cinematic choice to tell a story about an expansive fantasy in a way that doesn’t allow it to move beyond its own self-imposed restrictions. Director Lovell Holder doesn’t do much with the unique tools that cinema allows – apart from some snippets of mostly silent flashbacks – again raising the question as to why the play was turned into a film.
It’s easy to see why this material would work so well on a stage. There, the bold, unconventional choices (like a sudden dance number and the general speedrun of the historical timeline) likely feel more at home. Still, the writing is highly expressive and allows the actors to luxuriate in their characters through long addresses and lengthy dialogue exchanges. Taffeta gets some highly expressive monologues, and Mason delivers them with a transfixing passion. They fully embody their character in a way that feels as if they’re creating a compelling, brand-new archetype in real-time.
“Lavender Men” covers a lot of ground. The film’s asides focusing on Taffeta’s struggles with their body image and romantic life don’t always meld smoothly with Abe and Elmer’s story, apart from a fascinating segment where Taffeta portrays and draws parallels with Mary Todd Lincoln. But despite some bumpy narrative choices and a clearly limited budget, “Lavender Men” tells a transgressive, daring story about finding connections to the past in unexpected places – something that all queer people should do if they’re feeling lonely or hopeless.
