A friend of mine was watching The Crying Game on cinemax or something one day, and he had never seen it before. He had also somehow been totally ignorant of the film’s widely discussed secret; Crying Game = Woman+Man=penis. That bothered my friend intensely. Mostly because of the original and dramatic way that this truth is revealed. He changed the channel, and in subsequent conversations about the film, he called it a ‘moral void.’ Funny, but this film contains a character study of deep and compassionate morality.
Stephen Rea gives us his best performance here, as an IRA soldier who helps to kidnap and hold hostage a British soldier, played by Forest Whitaker, in what could be his best role as well. Rea is ordered to kill Whitaker when the Brits don’t give in to their demands, and what follows is one of the most engaging, surprising films I’ve ever seen (and the first segment, leading to the real story, should be an award winner in and of itself).
This film’s biggest surprise is by no means its sexual revelation. What is a surprise, to both himself, and the witnesses in the audience, is Stephen Rea’s character, Fergus. Fergus leaves Ireland to hide out in England (the Whitaker character is dead, but not at Fergus’ hand), and while working construction, follows through on his promise to the Whitaker character to look after Whitaker’s girlfriend in mourning, Dil. Folks, Dil has a penis. Dil is a man. Left the theater yet? Good, I knew we were all grown-ups here. Fergus is definitely grown up, as he does a curious and surprising thing after seeing Captain Winky. He comes back the next day and apologizes to Dil for hitting her in his disgust and shock, and running out on her.
Why does he do this? All the possible answers the film supplies point to a decent human being, and that is the key to the film’s poignancy. Fergus has a code of honor. He feels he must meet with Dil, and at first his plan is perhaps to confess to her what he had done to her lover. But he falls in love with her himself. Does he come back after discovering her secret only out of loyalty to the Whitaker character? Why would he stay with a sexual deviant, much less continue loyalty to a dead one? Simple. He’s a decent person, he knows Dil is a good soul in spite of her problems, and his code of honor and loyalty has now extended to her. The feeble would suggest he’s gay himself. The movie does intimate that there is still mutual sexuality between them, but at the same time it shows Fergus backing away from Dil’s sexual advances. Every time Dil calls him ‘hon’ or another affectionate moniker, Fergus tells her to stop. In a way, this helps to clarify that though there may be mutual attraction between them, Fergus is rooted in reality, and perhaps more confident of his own sexual consistency than those who have left the theatre at that point. Moreover, Fergus is revealed to have a deep heart.
Fergus is a real gem of a character, vibrant proof that while most films exist in a ‘moral void,’ this one kicks and screams and forces the audience to understand morality in a more powerful way. Fergus is un-attracted to Dil, perhaps even repulsed by her, and the film shows him fighting against his initial discomfort to continue his friendship with a person who is by no means a caricature deviant. Dil is a product of her nature, just as Jody (the Whitaker character) points out Fergus is. It’s in Fergus’ nature to be kind. It’s in Fergus’ nature to protect those who need to be protected, and to do the right thing when his time comes to do so. His mistake as an IRA soldier, is that he makes friends with those meant for hatred. He has steel, but not steel enough to hurt those he falls in love with. He’s the truest hero in the movies I’ve seen. Just as Jaye Davidson is essential to the part of Dil, so is Stephen Rea to the part of Fergus. Without these two actors, these two characters simply wouldn’t be. Rea has a weathered face, and sad, black eyes. He perfectly embodies the spirit of a man who must do the right thing, and yet, won’t hurt anyone in the process. He returns to Dil after discovering ‘her’ secret. That makes him a better man than any man in the audiences of this great film that left the theatre, changed the channel, or ejected the cassette, after seeing just a trifling amount of penis.
Footnote: No film such as this that begins with the song When A Man Loves A Woman, and ends with the song Stand By Your Man, is anything less than a sly masterpiece.
