LEAVING METROPOLIS (2002)
Queer Canadian writer/director Brad Fraser’s 2002 drama LEAVING METROPOLIS is an adaptation of his 1994 hit play “Poor Super Man.”
LEAVING METROPOLIS
2002. Canada.
Director: Brad Fraser
Screenplay: Brad Fraser
Based on: “Poor Super Man” (1994) Play by Brad Fraser
Starring: Troy Ruptash, Thom Allison, Vince Corazza, Lynda Boyd & Cherilee Taylor
David (Ruptash) is a successful artist in Winnipeg, Manitoba who is struggling with a lack of inspiration for his next painting series. He lives in a spacious apartment with his best friend Shannon (Allison) who is living with HIV and awaiting gender-affirming surgery.
David takes a job at a local diner because he thinks a new experience might help remove his creative block. The diner is owned by a young married couple, Matt (Vince Corazza) and Violet (Cherilee Taylor), who don’t know about David’s art career. With time, David and Matt begin to bond, and the artist finds the inspiration he was seeking. It also becomes evident both men have feelings for one another, but will Matt jeopardize his marriage and explore his sexuality?
Fraser’s “Poor Super Man” was a hit with critics and was listed as one of the top ten plays of 1994 by Time magazine. When adapting it for the screen he faced a number of challenges, including a title change due to copyright issues as well as some story alterations:
“When the play was written it was very much my cry from the heart about the state of the world in the midst of the AIDS crisis and how people were dealing with it. But, by the time we got around to making the movie, protease inhibitors had been introduced and people were living a lot longer. And so Shannon and David's characters both had to be changed quite a lot because David, in the play, is a man who is in the grip of death everywhere he looks. [It was difficult] to adapt that and still keep the same sense of poignancy and urgency.” Fraser stated in a 2004 interview with Outcome.
In the end Fraser mentioned he was happy with the film, despite wishing he’d had more time to edit.
You can find LEAVING METROPOLIS streaming on Prime (Canada) and available on DVD through Wolfe Video.
