Greg Araki’s films are worth checking out for sure, particularly “Totally F#*ked Up” is a great insight into gay teens in the 90s, and also “Nowhere” and his more recent film “Mysterious Skin”. Tom Kalin’s “Swoon” is another interesting film from the early 90s along with Todd Haynes’ “Poison”, they are certainly not stereotypical ‘gay’ films. Gus Van Sant’s films are also very relevant: “Mala Noche”, “My Own Private Idaho”,“Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” (also his not so great segment in horrendous “Paris, je t’aime”) deal with gay/lesbian themes in really interesting ways.
I’d also add Rose Troche to the list – her debut film “Go Fish” in the early 90s is definitely worth watching, she followed it up with “Bedrooms and Hallways” which has it’s moments, she’s gone on to direct numerous eps on “The L Word”.
Two really spring to mind – firstly, ‘Brokeback Mountain’ because of the all the hoopla surrounding it. Also, of course, because it deconstructs that most American of cultural icons – the cowboy (look out for all the Marlboro Man references!). Culturally it has to be seen as an important film because of it’s mainstream status, and the web forum dedicated to it – “Bettermost” – is testament to how well it has been received by the gay community. Membership is right across the spectrum – gay, straight, bisexual, male, female, transgender. I’ve been a member of this forum since the release of the film and if you ever needed proof that films have the potential to change lives then it’s right here. I’ve yet to see it, but another Ang Lee film – ‘The Wedding Banquet’ – is also spoken very highly of.
I also enjoyed the German film ‘Sommersturm’. The film has it’s failings but is held together by a mesmerising central performance by Robert Stadlober and is well worth a look.
Oh, and if you’re looking for a good documentary to throw in there then ‘Paris is Burning’ is another favourite of mine. It looks at the lives of regulars on the New York ‘drag balls’ circuit (the birthplace of ‘Vogueing’) in the late 80s.
Mike in Gus Van Sant’s “My Own Private Idaho” is a pretty interesting character.
There are a slew of characters worth mentioning in Greg Araki’s films….I would say his first feature “Totally Fucked Up (aka Totally F***ed Up)” is a good place to start. Others include “Nowhere” and “The Living End” (which is my personal favourite).
Also I think “Edward II” by Derek Jarman should most certainly be on there! The character of Edward II is incredible!
Talking about Sci-Fi … my friend told me there is a documentary called “Out of the Closet and Into the Universe: Queers and Star Trek”…sounds interesting but i have yet to track it down. I am a big sci-fi buff, but nothing is coming to mind right now. I will think hard about this.
And finally, not to be captain PC, but maybe this concept should be expanded from Lesbian/Gay film to Lesbian/Bisexual/Gay/Transgender film. I mean you have already mentioned “Bad Education”, which is certainly all of the above.
haha when i started to type that no one had responded yet, so jinx on antoine!
Haha! yeah I was gonna mention Jarman also, I watched “Wittgenstein” and “Caravaggio” again the other day and think they’re stunning films, Jarman is definitely an important figure in ‘queer’ cinema.
I’d also add Lisa Cholodenko’s “High Art” which explores the development of a lesbian relationship in an sensitive and honest way, Ally Sheedy’s performance as a ‘lesbian’ photographer is pretty outstanding.
John Sayles “Lianna” from the early 80s is quite a powerful film that I saw recently that stood out to me for it’s candid portrayal of a lesbian relationship between a young married woman and an older college professor, it’s a very honest and naturalistic film that shows the main characters struggle to find her own identity as a lesbian and the effects this has on her friends and children.
These are really great suggestions, Thanks a lot for your contributions…Some of the movies that you mentioned I already saw and like, such as the films of Gus Van Sant and Greg Araki. Especially, “Mysterious Skin” which I thought was a fantastic film… I was also thinking “L.I.E.” definitly belongs to this category as well. Since many ways, I thought it was very similar to “Mysterious Skin.”
Un Chant D’amour (Jean Genet, 1950)
Desert Hearts (Donna Deitch, 1986)
Times Square (Allan Moyle, 1980)
Personal Best (Robert Towne, 1982)
Vampire’s Kiss (Robert Bieman, 1990)
Pixote (Hector Babenco, 1981)
Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Hector Babenco, 1985)
The Killing of Sister George (Robert Aldrich, 1968)
As mentioned above: L.I.E and Mysterious Skin
I personally think that GBLT cinema in general provides a great outlet for expression, which is especially true within certain lesbian films. Films such as “Saving Face” which takes the lesbian relationship and throws in work, family expectations, and class warfare in for good measure and yes…it is a comedy about two people of asian decent falling in love.
Not sure if this would fit, but there are homosexual overtones/elements in David Cronenberg’s Crash which would be useful for analysis.
Crash is a good call actually. Interesting dynamic between fetishism/sexuality and just out right perversion.
Idaho of course—very complex characters and motivations.
But why not look at the subtext of so many vintage films—like Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” and Mrs. Danvers…her relationship with a dead woman!
Or Midnight Cowboy—another “Idaho” dynamic with motivation vs. sexuality as a great base for discussion on the topic.
“The Crying Game” is a given on this same topic.
’American Gigolo" is another film that shows the straight man only willing to “go Gay” for money and his shame at venturing outside the female for lust/love/pleasure/cash.
I think gay subtext is far more interesting as a cultural study than the outright “in your face” homo erotocism found in so many recent films.
You might also want to look into WKW’s “Happy Together.”
And how can you not look further into the Rock & Doris comedies of the 1960’s? “Pillow Talk” Listen to the dialogue in those old Rock Hudson films and see what the script writers threw out there under the radar. Terms like “Mama’s Boy” etc…they are not always what they seem.
My fav. gay films are:
Madame Sata and O Fantasma both from Brazil. Madame Sata is a great bio pic of a strong character who not only dealt with homophopia but also with racism. O Fantasma was good only in the sense that it explores the mind of a wanderer looking for challenging sexual encounters, falling into a deadly obsession with someone he hardly knows, and never really finding or caring to find true love. Another film that’s sort of like that is Head On from Australia with Alex Dimitriades.
From there I’d say as already mentioned Mysterious Skin.
Oh and Burnt Money from Argentina with Spain’s own Eduardo Noriega. Great film!
Moderated
Thank you so much for this topic! I’m actually preparing a personal project about Homosexuality in cinema and so far, I still have a lot of work to do… Has anyone seen “For the Bible said so” or something like that? It’s an incredibly haunting documentary about Christian homophobia!
Any good movies to recommend for my research? Thanks? Who has seen “fire” by deepa mehta by the way?
Taxi zum Klo (1981)
Directed by Frank Ripploh.
Absolute must see!
agree 100% with above choices of Un Chant D’amour (Jean Genet, 1950)
I would add Andre Techine’s Wild Reeds to the overall list, which also brings in some class politics and the debate in France over the Algerian war (the story is set in the early 1960s) to the mix.
I also think the Chinese film East Palace West Palace is worth a look. Not a flawless film, but there’s a couple interesting things happening in it – I think it takes a fairly stereotyped look at certain gay characters, and slowly subverts and reverses that, and it also uses the proclaimation of a sexual identity as a metaphor for the possibilities of a generational and ideological shift in Chinese politics and society. It struck me as a rather campy film (albeit well-made) at the outset, only to evolve into something far more discretely subversive – in ways that spoke symboliclally to a number of issues other than sexuality – over the course of the film.
There is a doc out there called “Fabulous: The Story of Queer Cinema”, or something very close to that. That would be a great resource for anyone who wanted some insight into many interesting films. It includes an in depth look at the early ’90’s “New Queer Cinema” featuring Araki, Haynes, Jarman etc. Good doc.
recent of 04’, the rasberry reich from bruce la bruce – hilarious critique
To Stephanie above: My partner and I just watched For the Bible Tells Me So this weekend. It was available at our public library. Excellent collection of interviews about gay people and religion. We also saw Milk over the weekend, and the two are interesting companion pieces.
For your research Halim,, definitely check out “The Times of Harvey Milk” and “Before Stonewall” (both documentaries), “Brokeback Mountain” of course (good call up there, Nicky), “The Boys in the Band” (new on DVD, dated, but fascinating), “Tales of the City” (the PBS Mini-Series), “The Hours”, and possibly “Boys Don’t Cry”.
I didn’t particularly like “Brokeback Mountain” when I watched it back in 2006 but I do want to give it another try as it’s essential to my project and as it’s the sort of film that grows on you because of his complexity. I read the novel, which I found more brutal and ambiguious when it talked about their sexual encounters. I’d be glad to see it again!
You are helping me with these movies! Unfortunately, the Times of Harvey Milk doesn’t exist on region 2 and its region 1 is unaffordable! But the 2 Stonewall movies are at a decent price, so I’ll take a look into them!
Have you read the book “The Celluloid Closet” or seen the movie! It’s also a great insight about homosexuality in the movies since the beginning of cinema til the 90s.
Thank you so much again and I hope hearing a lot of you for some other films!
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Tom Kalin’s Swoon. Interesting take on the Leopold and Loeb case, but I think I like it because I’m a stickler for things that take place in the ’20s.
And I second Happy Together.
glad jessup mentioned rasberry reich although in it the line between porn and art it blurrerd to the point of porn as a medium of art…really enjoyed it. also liked garcon stupide, and shelter.
but I’m a cheerleader
Ang Lee’s earlier Wedding Banquet is another fine film – a good mix of comedy and drama, and an abundance of detail. The wedding scene is outstanding.
I also recall a French film called My Life On Ice from several years ago, and I don’t remember the director, but it was very well-made…
Bound
Avant que j’oublie (Before I forget) by Jacques Nolot is supposed to be good. I have not seen it, but it rents a lot at my store.
I’d recommend, in addition to all the titles mentioned above, checking out some Kenneth Anger, particularly “Fireworks” and “Scorpio Rising.” And some of the Andy Warhol, and also Warhol/Paul Morrissey movies.
I got to see Un Chant d’Amour a number of years ago (I think it’s rarely screened, could be wrong about that) and it has this amazingly sensual scene where two prisoners are exchanging puffs of smoke through a small opening between their cells, one inhaling what the other has exhaled and exhaling it back.
Also, two characters in Paul Thomas Anderson pictures — the Philip Seymour Hoffman character in Boogie Nights and the William H. Macy character in Magnolia, who represent self-destructive, self-hating behavior, like loving straight guys, etc.
Tom, I love The Boys in the Band for Harold alone. He’s one of my favorite characters in all of cinema.
“My Life on Ice” was written and directed by a gay filmmakeing couple Olivier Ducastel and Jacques martineau. It’s my favorite of their films but all of them are worthwhile, especially their musical “Jeanne and the Perfect Guy”
The greatest gay film — and the greatest film PERIOD is, of course, Patrice Chereau’s “Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train.”
His “L’Homme Blesse” and “Son Frere” are also gay films of enormous interest.
“Before I Forget” is a masterpiece as is Nolot’s earlier “Porn Theater.”
Techine’s most recent work “The Witnesses” is a devestating story of the early days of the AIDS crisis and its impact on French gay and bisexual men.
Halim Cillov
Right now, I am planing to write an article on Contemporary Gay/Lesbian Cinema, and I am looking to find films that features non-stereotypical and non-cliche gay and lesbian characters.I would highly appreciate any suggestions, possibly in a different variety of Genres that didn’t had many gay and lesbian characters previously, such as Animation or Science-Fiction…
Though, in addition to this, this is also a genre that I am very interested at, so I would also be interested at hearing about your favorite films in this genre as well.
To give you a bit of an idea of my taste in this genre, here are my favorite films:
- “The Bubble” (Ha-Buah) by Eytan Fox, which could be possibly be my favorite film of this genre, at least recently.
- " Show me Love" (Fucking Åmål) by Lukas Moodyson a really touching coming-of-age story that puts a smile on my face each time I watch it.
- “Querelle” by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. I think this is probably one of the most stylized gay and lesbian films that was ever-made.
- “La Mala educación” by Pedro Almodóvar. I think this is one of the greatest Film Noirs of Recent years.
- The Bittwersweet Canadian coming-of-age tale “C.R.A.Z.Y.”
- “Running With Scissors.” I think this is a really great-cultish- movie, but the book is ten times more amazing. I found so much of myself in the book that it was almost scary. I also love how Burroughs could make you laugh hysterically one minute, while making you cry in the next. Though, unfortunately, not all the greatest moments of the book was reflected in the movie.
And, of course, Wong Kar-Wai’s “Happy Together” which will always be a very special movie for me, due to many reasons, starting with how much I am in love with Kar-Wai’s sense of tortured romance.