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List Price: $29.95 | | Label: Ariztical Entertainment
Salesrank: 107383
Released: October 26, 2004 |
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| Used Price: $23.99 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Based on the life of a prominent Australian Politician, Everlasting Secret Family is a provoking film of morality to be rich in sexual nuance and dramatic conflict. The Senator (Arthur Dignam) and his peers meets as an exclusive "Family" who secretly recruit young boys from select schools and use them for the decadent purpose of realizing erotic desire. One youth in particular (Mark Lee) attracts the Senator's attention and is let deeper into a world of private distinctions of behavior and thought. When the Senator takes a wife, the young men's temporal reality concludes that without his youth he shall lose his position as the Senator's favorite. To avoid this loss and to maintain his powerful charm, the young man invests his energies in raising the Senator's child. After 16 years, the son (Paul Goddard), influenced by his mentor and companion, becomes a homosexual and is also initiated into the "Family" upon reaching manhood. The Senator and his son are then both dependent on the love of the handsome youth who has become the focal point in their lives.
The Everlasting Secret Family Reviews:
THE MOST STELLAR DISPLAY 
2008-04-06 - "THE EVERLASTING SECRET FAMILY" features the most STELLAR DISPLAY OF SELFISHNESS I'VE EVER WITNESSED ON FILM. Not an iota or jot of altruism here; just ME-ME-ME
flagrantly integrated with a megadose of wrenching IMM-and-AM-orality. Viewing this production may produce something akin to temporary ethical amnesia.
But the Australians know how to craft cinematic art.
Disturbing but Well Made
2007-05-18 - "The Everlasting Secret Family"
Disturbing but Well Made
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
"The Everlasting Secret Family" (Ariztical) is a very distiurbing but well made film. One the reasons that it is so disturbing is because it is based on the life of a prominent Australian politician, Rich in dramatic conflict and loaded with sexual nuance, it is a provocative film. The subject matter deals with a youth who is inducted into an all pervasive secret society whose members include high ranking and powerful men in Australia. Likewise it also confirms what some sections of society believe--this is how rich and powerful homosexuals operate. In exposing this aspect of Australian society, the film is tantalizing.
The atmosphere of the film is bucolic which makes sense of we look at the location of Canberra, the capital of Australia and its location--in the middle of nowhere. Senator Arthur Dignam (John Meilon in quite a performance) and his "peers" meet as an exclusive secret family which recruits young boys from the most select schools and uses them to pursue the decadence of their erotic desires. One young boy Paul Goddard (Mark Lee) particularly attracts Dignam and he leads him into a world of degrading behavior and thought. The Senator also takes a wife which makes Paul realize that if he loses his youth, he will also lose his position as Dugnam's favorite, a position that is particularly financially appealing to him. To assure his position with the Senator, Paul uses his energies to raise his son. After sixteen years, the son, heavily influenced by his mentor and companion accepts his own homosexuality and is initiated into the "family". The focal point of both the Senator and the son is the same man--the lover of one and the mentor of the other--or is there more?
The movie obviously had to be made to show how Australia was when homosexuality was illegal and contacts were made through the underground.
What we get is not a pretty picture. We see a society of gays involved in subversive activity, a secret homosexual society that infiltrated the upper crust of the Australian political and
class system in a subtle and silent way. The movie says a lot and Australia has ever reason to be proud of how far she has come.
Absolutely Beautiful................ 
2006-02-05 - This Movie somehow really grabbed me. The Acting was really good and the plot was great. As funny as it may sound it had some deepness to it which really pulled me in I Highly recommend This Movie.
Creepy Weirdness 
2005-05-17 - This film is dated in every way, and creepy beyond explanation.
It depicts a supposed culture of older, aristocratic men who can afford to "keep" younger men as lovers in a possessive, manipulative way. It isn't love or attraction as much as it seems to be simple lust and convenience.
The creepy weirdness increases when some of the characters decide they are "entitled" to interludes with some of the boys because they have been good servants for so many years. The mother is creepy too and does her best to manipulate the situation to her advantage, as does the main character.
So, this is an artificially artsy-feeling movie full of scheming scoundrels looking for a good time at someone else's expense. It doesn't get better at the end.
This must have been ground-breaking for it's time, and it's interesting enough to watch through, but it's value (and it's drawbacks) is in it's age and it's (probably) accurate depiction of prevailing attitudes and stereotypes of several decades ago. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone except the die-hard fan of gay movies.
Dated film that shows its age
2005-03-09 - Don't be fooled by the 2004 DVD release date. This movie was made in the 1960s and has primitive film coloring and a horrid sound track that grates.
The acting is competent though not inspired, which earns the movie two stars rather than one, and there were a few interesting and entertaining devices. One can imagine how daring this must have been for the period in which it was released. The plot, which is most unusual, earns some credit by its originality, at least among movies, if not books.
However, overall the film takes a sordid, bleak and depressing view of the subject matter, which is typical of older films. The politician is portrayed as snobbish, cold, controlling, humorless and unlikable. The youth, who is supposed to be sixteen, can't be a day younger than thirty. The courtship (mentioned above in the movie description) does not exist, as the young man is simply plucked out of a classroom with no explanation. The movie description would have you believe this film is somehow deeper, sensitive or more intelligent than it actually is.
At best, this film is a crude rip-off of "Dorian Gray". At worst, it's an indulgence of the grossest stereotypes from yesteryear.
This was probably judged a fair film for the genre back when it was one of a very few, but nowadays there are so many other, better films available, that I cannot imagine any reason for bothering with this one, other than nostalgia, which probably is the excuse for the positive reviews you read here.
