Lilies, a stirring tale about tragic romance, jealousy and treachery, is an exuberant feast for the eyes, ears, heart and mind. Quebec, Spring 1952. Bishop Boilau has been called to jail to hear the confession of the sick Simon Doucet, who tells him of his first homosexual encounter in 1912. When Simon mentions several names, the bishop is startled: he is reminded of troillism from his own past, when he first suppressed his homosexual feelings, confessed them and was then rejected. Now the confessing prisoner and the bishop are locked up together. Boilau is witness to a simulated, baroque setting of events from 1912. The prison chapel is transformed into a stage, populated by young men and drag queens. The pretty boys act out their first seductions, their puppy loves and their romantic passions.In Lilies, a variety of iconographic expressions join hands, inspired by baroque aesthetics and ‘paganism’, the languishing, theatrical, Christian imagery, operetta kitsch and pictures by artists such as Pierre & Gilles. The world is transformed into the stage of a radical play, in which appearance is just as important as reality.
