| To Die For | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Peter Mackenzie Litten |
| Written by | Johnny Byrne Peter Mackinzie Litten Paul McEvoy |
| Starring | Thomas Arklie Ian Williams Tony Slattery Dillie Keane Jean Boht John Altman |
| Music by | Roger Bolton |
| Cinematography | John Ward |
| Editing by | Jeffrey Arsenault |
| Release date(s) | 2 December 1994 |
| Running time | 101 mins. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
To Die For is a British comedy drama film directed by Peter Mackenzie Litten in 1994. It stars Thomas Arklie, Ian Williams, Tony Slattery, Dillie Keane and John Altman. The screenplay was written by Johnny Byrne, Paul McEvoy, and Litten. The original music score was composed by Roger Bolton.
Set in London in the early nineties, the film portrays the bitter-sweet lifestyles of a young gay couple in a fiery open relationship. Mark is an acerbic drag queen with a sharp tongue, who finds it difficult to accept his much better-looking partner's highly-promiscuous lifestyle of non-stop clubbing and cruising. Worse still, Mark is HIV positive and his partner is negative.
Both of them are struggling to come to terms with Mark's deteriorating condition. Nowadays, Mark prefers to stay at home when not performing - working on his own panel of embroidery for an AIDS quilt memorial project. Simon however, prefers to turn a blind eye to the situation and continues to cruise London's gay bars at night looking for action.
Mark dies early on in the story and Simon becomes the focus of the story as he buries his feelings and continues his torrid sex life. At first, It seems that he's totally unaffected by his lover's death. But when Mark comes back to haunt him his life suddenly gets a lot more complex! Especially as he's the only one who can see him.
It turns out that Mark has actually come back to help his partner to accept his true feelings and to encourage him to reassess his reckless lifestyle. A lifestyle that he is sure will never bring him the happiness he seeks. Eventually, Mark gets through to him and Simon breaks down and weeps for the very first time.
Mark's work is done and he can leave his one-time lover to move on with his life.