In the 1970s, Liberace was a household name, an entertaining pianist whose shows were characterized by flamboyant extravagance. His costumes were bejeweled, fur-laden curiosities, and he indulged in amusing banter with his audiences as he offered up both classical compositions and modern crowd-pleasers. As Behind the Candelabra begins, Scott Thorson (played by Matt Damon) is at his first Liberace concert and is astonished at the enthusiasm of the audience of mostly middle-aged and elderly couples. "How can they like something this gay?" he wonders to his friend. His friend replies, "Oh they don't know he's gay." And that's probably the most shocking fact about Liberace's career.
It isn't easy being a gay celebrity even in 2013, but in the 60s or 70s, it was simply impossible. So it is little wonder that Liberace maintained cover stories, complete with fake engagements to appropriate women. The undercover nature of gay culture in this period might also explain why the wider audience just never suspected that he was gay - anyone watching YouTube clips of his performances nowadays would immediately suspect the truth, but back then, most people had no concept of what homosexuality even was. As a result, Liberace could get away with writing an autobiography detailing love affairs with women, and successfully suing a London tabloid for libel when they hinted at his sexual orientation.
However, as the title suggests, Behind the Candelabra isn't about Liberace's public persona but his private life. Based on the memoirs of Scott Thorson, it follows Thorson's 5-year relationship with Liberace. Thorson was only a teenager when he met Liberace (who was 40 years older than him), but their attraction was instantaneous and he soon moved in with "Lee" and embarked on a decadent life that quickly spiraled out of control. Their relationship was bizarre and twisted - at one point Thorson was persuaded to get plastic surgery to look more like Liberace, who even considered adopting Thorson as his son. The movie depicts an elaborate world, filled with insecure people who are hiding from the world but also from themselves.
Behind the Candelabra was deemed "too gay" for financing from major movie studios, which is why it was only released on HBO in the United States. However, I don't think it would have worked on the big screen anyway. The movie has an interesting story to tell about an extremely larger-than-life personality but it never ceases to feel like a TV movie. It is over-the-top yet strangely conventional because you can instantly predict where this train-wreck of a relationship is headed. The performances by Matt Damon and Michael Douglas (who plays Liberace with all the quirks yet never as a caricature) are fantastic, but I never fully forgot who the actors were. The whole story is so concerned with people pretending to be something they're not that you cannot lose yourself in these characters and forget all the crazy hairstyles, make-up, and gaudy glitz.
Behind the Candelabra is worth a viewing just to get a sense of the times and marvel at Liberace's popularity and ability to manipulate the media and his audiences. The movie captures a different era, and one can only hope that things have gotten a little better for entertainers who just want to live their lives without judgement.
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