The picture of what has been called “high-functioning homelessness”, Mark Reay is the enigmatic subject at the centre of tonight’s beautifully paced documentary, HOMME LESS. As the opening credits roll, we see ex-model Reay prepare for his day in extreme close-up. The still handsome, struggling photographer wets his hair and slicks it back with quality brand styling product, ties his tie, does up his pants and puts on a suit jacket, making sure the handkerchief in the breast pocket is just so. He knots the laces of his well-shined leather shoes, and after all of this, is ready to face whatever the day throws at him. All good thus far, until we realise that Reay is performing his toilette in a pretty grimy
The picture of what has been called “high-functioning homelessness”, Mark Reay is the enigmatic subject at the centre of tonight’s beautifully paced documentary, HOMME LESS. As the opening credits roll, we see ex-model Reay prepare for his day in extreme close-up. The still handsome, struggling photographer wets his hair and slicks it back with quality brand styling product, ties his tie, does up his pants and puts on a suit jacket, making sure the handkerchief in the breast pocket is just so. He knots the laces of his well-shined leather shoes, and after all of this, is ready to face whatever the day throws at him. All good thus far, until we realise that Reay is performing his toilette in a pretty grimy restroom, and that he’s homeless in one of the toughest cities to be so in the world.
It’s clear that from all outside appearances, Mark seems to have the kind of glamorous, New York City life that many would envy. Handsome and always impeccably dressed, the charismatic former male model works as a fashion photographer, appears in movies and attends the most glamorous parties. When he leaves those events, however, he heads to the East Village - not to an overpriced, minimally but expensively decorated loft, but to a hidden corner of a rooftop to sleep each night. And it’s not an even remotely attractive hidden corner either – think a hole away from prying eyes with only a sleeping bag for warmth and a tarp for shelter.
Mark’s homelessness is a secret he has harboured for years – even he isn’t sure whether he’s lived like this for five or six years, such is the monotony of his predicament. He has allowed director Thomas Wirthensohn to follow him for two of those, and the result is a documentary that not only profiles Reay but also exposes the dark underbelly of the American Dream in an often-merciless city. A reviewer on Rogerebert.com describes the end result as: “…a fascinating account of a man who plays a role in order to hide the reality of life” and I couldn’t agree more.
Reay doesn't fit the model of our traditional perception of a homeless person, and I wish more time had been spent on the exact situation that lead him to being in the predicament that he is. It is an inspired move when Wirthensohn shows us people who do look as we have become used to the homeless appearing, as Reay passes them in the street, impeccably dressed. During a montage that juxtaposes middle-class people going about their day with the poverty-stricken digging through garbage and begging for money, you wonder what Reay’s personal economic situation is and what made him throw in the towel all those years before.
On the flip side his sex life, or lack thereof, is extensively discussed without any sense of embarrassment. It is amazing when Wirthensohn captures Reay charming international high fashion models on the street, creating a jarring juxtaposition by following these scenes with shots of the struggling photographer crawling under a tarp to sleep at the end of a long night and after more than a few glasses of red wine.
When I watched the film I didn’t know that first time director Thomas Wirthensohn was also a model and that the pair met at an industry event, but it shows in the sensitivity with which he views the fashion world as opposed to mocking it. Reay’s situation also called to mind for me fellow silver fox, model Aiden Shaw who has been seen in high profile campaigns all around the world over the past few years and has been HIV-positive since 1997. Admittedly Shaw is an ex-adult film star, prostitute and recovering addict, but the pair has the same air of holding on to their attractiveness whilst the rest of the world starts to fall apart around them.
Beautiful and sad, I highly recommend you give this short, simply told film a bash – it looks beyond the stereotypes usually attached to homelessness and delivers so much more.