In The Arms Of My Enemy

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Raping and pillaging doesn't look all bad in this action/revenge movie set in the Ukraine in the 1850s. The film's original title should be translated as Horse Thieves, which gives a better idea of its queer quotient than the friskier English title. There's nothing overtly gay in this story about two sets of brothers eking out meager, brutal lives in the wilderness, and how they clash with each other. But there's plenty of homoeroticism to be found in the male bonding and half-naked pastoral romping (is this a war movie or a Bel Ami featurette?) that interleave the action segments. There's something viscerally satisfying about the brutality and masculinity of this simple flick, even though it's so over-the-top that it verges on camp. But whether you enjoy it sincerely or chuckle at its excesses, this movie is a pretty entertaining romp.