lilies is a 1996 canadian film directed by john greyson. it was adapted from a stage play written by michel marc bouchard, who also takes credit for the screen adaptation. it is a period piece about a bishop who visits a quebecios prison to hear confession from simon, an old friend. the bishop is then trapped inside the confessional box and forced to watch "the confession" being reenacted by the simon's fellow inmates. the story within this confession takes us back around 20 years, where a much younger simon is involved in a triangle (due to ambiguity, i cannot use the L-word) with the son of a fallen aristocrat, vallier, and a vacationing baroness. as a twist, later on, it shall be revealed (okay this is the ultimate spoiler, so if you do intend to watch this film, skip this part) that the young bishop was also into simon, and was in fact the one responsible for the death of vallier--the crime simon was paying for.

the thing that really made me squirm on my seat--the thing that made me cross my legs, uncross them and cross them again so many times--(is not the fact that the actors were so delicious, though partly, it is, i must confess) is how the movie reached out and grabbed me by the collar, and insisted that love is a good thing in spite of tragic endings.

lilies will be shown again at the up film institute next week. free admission. i'm just not sure exactly which day.