What happens when you struggle with your sexuality? What happens when you are torn between two relationships, the one society wants you to have and the one you actually desire? What happens when you get tangled up in a symbolic and literal web of lies to yourself? These are the questions that The Secret of Wendel Samson explores. They’re big questions for a thirty-three minute movie.
Wendel Samson (played by artist Red Grooms) no longer loves his girlfriend Margret (played by artist and Grooms’ then-partner Mimi Gross). But, he just can’t seem to tell her. Instead, he cruises the empty streets at night, pacing back and forth until he meets a man. They have a tryst and begin a relationship. Thus begins Wendel’s exploration of himself and the unraveling of his world. In a fever dream of anxiety and guilt, strangers appear, guns are drawn, and Wendel must prove his heterosexuality in public. He is literally shot in the back, a metaphor for the society that once supported him, but no longer does.
Directed by Mike Kuchar and beautifully shot in 16mm, The Secret of Wendel Samson contains multitudes of styles and textures. There are moments of menace, as when our tortured hero silently wanders around abandoned streets and dark alleyways while a lone church bell rings out in the distance. Then there are moments of heartbreak where Samson avoids being intimate with his girlfriend and instead watches TV. “Why can’t we just be friends?” There are also moments of over-the-top melodrama, as when Wendel and Margret have a campy, candlelit date while the syrupy love theme from The 7th Dawn plays. In the end, Wendel’s internal struggle turns physical as he is tortured and humiliated.
Unlike Sins of the Fleshapoids and Born of the Wind, The Secret of Wendel Samson is on the quieter, pensive side. There is less camp, less histrionic characters, and no outlandish costumes. Still you can see the signature style of Mike Kuchar: overlapping soundtracks, overdubbed campy dialogue, surreal side characters. The sound design of this short is particularly noteworthy: musical cues consist of noise dripping in reverb, crackling library music, and droning organs. Ultimately, The Secret of Wendel Samson is an exercise where someone’s mental anguish is put on display. It is heart-rending because you just want Wendel to find love and acceptance from himself. In a world where love is somehow controversial and queer spaces and resources are made inaccessible to those who need them, the Kuchar brothers’ films demand more importance than ever. George and Mike Kuchar spent their careers working in the fringes and creating on their own terms. Their work is the embodiment of the freedom of expression.
