ABOUT HALFWAY through The Old Guard, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s upcoming film about a group of immortal warriors, something happens that I’m pretty sure has never happened before in a big-budget superhero comic-book movie: A man declares his love for another man. And it’s not just a corporate-approved, Disneyesque bit of tokenism, either. The men in question are Yusuf, a.k.a Joe (Marwan Kenzari), and Nicolo, a.k.a Nicky (Luca Marinelli), two members of the five-person team that gives the movie its title. In this scene, they sit handcuffed in the back of a van, surrounded by soldiers. Joe is checking to make sure Nicky is okay. “What is he, your boyfriend?,” one of the soldiers asks, chuckling contemptuously. Joe takes a long look at his captor and proceeds to give one of the most full-hearted declarations of love I’ve ever witnessed in a film.
“This man is more to me than you can dream,” he says, his voice trembling. “He’s the moon when I’m lost in darkness, and warmth when I shiver in cold. And his kiss still thrills me even after a millennium. His heart overflows with a kindness of which this world is not worthy. I love this man beyond measure and reason. He’s not my boyfriend. He is all, and he is more.”
Then the two lovers kiss, passionately.
This story is from the June 22 - July 05, 2020 edition of New York magazine.
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This story is from the June 22 - July 05, 2020 edition of New York magazine.
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