Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

Poster for the Royal National Theatre production of Bent

Bent is a 1979 play (which starred Ian McKellen in its original West-End production, Richard Gere in its original Broadway production) by Martin Sherman that was adapted into a 1997 movie by director Sean Mathias. It revolves around the persecution of gay men in Third Reich Germany after the murder of Sturmabteilung leader Ernst Röhm. The play is based on The Men with the Pink Triangles, the testimony of camp survivor Hans Heger. Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... Image File history File links Bent_(theater). ... Image File history File links Bent_(theater). ... The Royal National Theatre from Waterloo Bridge The Royal National Theatre is a building complex and theatre company located on the South Bank in London, England immediately east of the southern end of Waterloo Bridge. ... For the Smashing Pumpkins song, see 1979 (song). ... Sir Ian Murray McKellen CBE, (born May 25, 1939) is a veteran English stage and screen actor, the recipient of a Tony Award and two Oscar nominations. ... Richard Tiffany Gere (born August 31, 1949) is a Golden Globe Award-winning American actor. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other articles with similar names, see Gay (disambiguation). ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The seal of SA The   (SA, German for Storm Division, usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. ... A photographic portrait of Ernst Röhm. ...

The word "bent" is occasionally a slang term for homosexuality in some European countries.

Max (played by Clive Owen in the film), a promiscuous gay man in 1930s Berlin, is at odds with his wealthy family because of his homosexuality. One evening, much to the resentment of his boyfriend Rudy (Brian Webber), he brings home a handsome SA man. Unfortunately, Hitler has just decided to get rid of the Sturmabteilung, which was noted for the same-sex inclinations among its ranks. The Sturmabteilung man is discovered and killed by SS men in Max and Rudy's apartment and the two have to flee Berlin. Clive Owen (born October 3, 1964), is a critically acclaimed English actor, now a regular performer in Hollywood and independent American films. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Berlin is the capital city and one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... The seal of SA The   (SA, German for Storm Division, usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... The seal of SA The   (SA, German for Storm Division, usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. ... The double-Sig Rune SS insignia. ...

Max's uncle Freddie (Richard Gale in the West-End production, George Hall on Broadway and Ian McKellen in the film), who is also gay, but lives a more discreet life with rent boys to satisfy his desires, has organized new papers for Max, but Max refuses to leave his naïve boyfriend behind. As a result, Max and Rudy are found and arrested by the Gestapo and put on a train headed for Dachau concentration camp. General Sir Richard Nelson Gale, GCB, KBE, DSO, MC (1896–1982) was a British soldier who served in both world wars, rising eventually to be Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. ... George Hall (November 19, 1916-October 21, 2002) was a theater, TV, and movie actor best remembered by his role as the elderly Dr. Henry Indiana Jones in the TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992). ... Sir Ian Murray McKellen CBE, (born May 25, 1939) is a veteran English stage and screen actor, the recipient of a Tony Award and two Oscar nominations. ... Male prostitution is the sale of sexual services (prostitution) by a male with either male or female clients. ... The Deaths Head emblem similar to skull and crossbones, often used as the insignia of the Gestapo The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei; Secret State Police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... Memorial at the camp, 1997. ...

On the train, Rudy is beaten to death by the guards and, as he calls out to Max when he is taken away, Max is forced to have sex with a dead girl to "prove" he is not homosexual. Max has lied to the guards, telling them that he is a Jew. He believes his chances for survival in the camp will be better if he is not assigned the pink triangle. The pink triangle, a popular gay pride symbol, was originally used to denote homosexual men as a Nazi concentration camp badge. ...

In the camp, Max makes friends with Horst (Tom Bell in the West-end play, David Dukes in the Broadway production and Lothaire Bluteau in the Film), who shows him the dignity that lies in acknowledging what one is. After Horst is shot by camp guards, Max puts on Horst's jacket with the pink triangle and commits suicide by grabbing an electric fence. Tom Bell (August 2, 1933 – October 4, 2006) was an English actor on stage, film and television. ... This article is about David Dukes, the character actor. ... Lothaire Bluteau (born on 14 April 1957 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian actor. ... An electric fence is a barrier that uses painful or even lethal high-voltage electric shocks to deter animals or people from crossing a boundary. ...

Bent tries to show that homosexuality always runs through all classes of society and that it would be incorrect to exclusively assign the role of victims to the homosexuals of that time. While many gay people who were too poor (like Horst) or too naïve (like Rudy) ended up in concentration camps, others used their money (like Uncle Freddie) or their power (like the concentration camp commandant or some of the German officers) to stay out of harm's way.

Max occupies a middle spot in this spectrum between resistance and collaboration, as initially he is bent on surviving against all odds and perhaps later even escaping the camp, but during the play / movie he undergoes a transition because of Horst's influence and realizes one cannot always change one's luck through sheer willpower.

The play was the first time that popular culture had acknowledged the fact that the gay men were victims of the Holocaust, and helped pave the way for more historical research and documentaries to be released about the fate of homosexuals under Nazi Germany.

The play is currently being revived and will be put on at Trafalgar Studios in the fall, with Alan Cumming as Max. Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965 in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross), is a Scottish film, television and stage actor, best known for his film roles in GoldenEye, as Boris Grishenko; in X2: X-Men United, as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler; and on the stage with his Tony Award-winning performance as...

External links

• Bent at The Internet Broadway Database
• Bent at the Internet Movie Database