In no way shape or form am I saying that any of the following films are the best LGBTQ films that cinema has to offer. Not at all. However, personally, these are the ones that touched me, that in my eyes brought something new to the way stories are told and, most importantly for me, told love stories without the tragedy of so many of the bigger scale films (sorry Brokeback Mountain–you’re great, but you’re also miserable). I also, for the most part, wanted to highlight some smaller recent films by fresh-faced directors that hint at what’s to come for modern filmmaking and the sharing of LGBTQ stories.
Please feel free to share in the comments what would make your personal list and what LGBTQ film you’ve seen that has resonated with you the most. These are in no particular order.
Saving Face (Alice Wu)
A sweet story that focuses on a young, Chinese American woman who must grapple with her more traditional heritage, her burgeoning relationship with another woman, Lynn Chen, and her mother’s unexpected pregnancy, Saving Face is an undervalued romantic comedy. With the heart of the film being focused on women and their relationships with one another, the story refuses to sugarcoat any of the characters’ situations, rather mining for moments of comedy, drama and romance from their shortcomings. Our lead, Wilhelmina, isn’t so much hiding who she is and more so has a family who has put blinders on in regards to her sexuality. If she doesn’t mention it, they won’t either. Her tense but affectionate relationship with her mother, whose unmarried pregnancy causes strife with her own parents, is the soul of the film, while her flirtation with Lynn brings just the right amount of lightness. It’s a love story and a familial drama with plenty of comedy throughout, and it’s a shame we haven’t seen more from director Alice Wu.
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Tomboy (Celine Sciamma)
Celine Sciamma has become a name to watch, having directed some of the most powerful stories about young women in recent memory. With this year’s Girlhood (which is on Netflix, and if you haven’t seen, it I strongly urge you to get on that now), Sciamma has cemented herself as an integral voice in cinema, but before that, there was 2011’s Tomboy, a richly told story about a child, genetically born female, who begins to identify as a boy when other children begin to get to know him. The topic isn’t taken lightly, but it also isn’t used solely for the purpose of causing grief. The film centers itself on a brave and fascinating lead who has a loving family, if not one who’s grappling to understand their child. It’s intimate, beautifully performed, and detailed as it showcases the ideas of gender fluidity and identity through the eyes of an innocent.
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Laurence Anyways (Xaviar Dolan)
Xavier Dolan is one of the most interesting talents of our generation, and while his first two films, I Killed My Mother and Heartbeats, showed signs of that promise, it wasn’t until his heavyweight Laurence Anyways that his potential and unadulterated skill were laid bare. First and foremost, Laurence Anyways is a love story, and the fact that it centers itself on a trans woman and her lover, spanning over years of their tumultuous relationship, only makes it that much more interesting. It’s a film that loves its characters, that treats them as human beings with things to love and things to hate. It’s an enormously emotional film about boundless love in it’s truest form.
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Appropriate Behavior (Desiree Akhavan)
Desiree Akhavan’s film Appropriate Behavior, about a Persian, bisexual young woman dealing with a bad breakup, is the most recent film on this list and it’s also the most fitting to our generation without pretending to be the “voice of a generation.” It’s Akhavan’s alone, but I wouldn’t be shocked to hear that while watching many viewers related to Shirin. Shirin isn’t a likable character, and there are convoluted moments in the film, but it’s a rarity to see a lead character dealing so openly with identities she’s supposed to be wearing like second nature. She’s not comfortable in her own skin, but she’s trying.
My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant)
Oh Gus Van Sant, so long to your days of glory it would seem after the abysmal reception Sea of Trees garnered at the notoriously vocal Cannes Film Festival. Let’s remember the good old days with his best film, the River Phoenix-led My Own Private Idaho. The ambition of the film is startling and greatly pays off. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V, the film follows Mike and Scott, two friends who are street hustlers, one of whom is also a narcoleptic and in love with the other. At its heart it’s a doomed love story, one that’s painted in vibrancy, yellows, reds, and oranges, and about a young man looking for comfort. Phoenix is captivating as Mike, silent in his sadness, and Keanu Reeves as Scott delivers the best performance of his career.
But I’m a Cheerleader (Jamie Babbit)
Bubblegum satire But I’m a Cheerleader, directed by Jamie Babbit, stars pre-Orange is the New Black Natasha Lyonne as Megan Bloomfield, a high school cheerleader whose parents send her to a conversion therapy camp. The camp is strict in its gender definitions, stripped down to its core stereotypical gender roles–boys wear blue, girls wear pink, girls cook, men build, and so on. While there, Megan begins to accept her sexual orientation, as she also begins to fall in love for the first time. Below the surface of satirical cynicism, there’s an underbelly of sweetness, and Lyonne is all doe-eyed and playful, a strong lead who matches the tone of the film perfectly. The film is a romantic comedy with a truly satisfying ending. It deserves a cult classic status.
Blue is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche)
I don’t know if this one is largely agreed upon, mainly due to background grossness by the director and a sex scene that oversteps itself into exploitation, but Blue is the Warmest Color is by far one of the most heart-wrenching love stories I’ve ever seen. The film is also a wonderful portrait of a young woman and her fight for happiness, her love, her selfishness, and her insecurity as actress Adèle Exarchopoulos creates one of the finest female characters of the 21st century. Her character, Adèle, is never defined by her sexuality, and we watch as she transforms from a young girl, wide-eyed and in love, to a young woman who has lost love and is struggling to keep herself pulled together.
Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes)
This one is just a bit of fun. Directed by Todd Haynes and set in the glam rock days of 1970s Britain, it tells the retrospective story of bisexual pop star Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). The film is in equal parts about gay journalist Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale) and his pursuit of his beloved rock idol, as he talks about how glam rock helped him come out and accept his sexuality. The film’s main storyline is the hazy, smoke filled love affair between Slade and Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor) and the breakdowns that follow them as they rise to fame. Musical, eerily dystopian feeling at times (an allusion to the book 1984), and showcasing talents such as McGregor and Bale in against-the-grain roles, Velvet Goldmine is unlike many films I’ve seen, which is why it’s one to watch.
Pride (Matthew Warchus)
Another recent film, Pride went largely unloved by popular media last year (although it was well-liked by critics, including this one), which is a shame, due to the unfiltered joy this film tries to inspire. With a cast full to the brim with talent, inluding everything from British heavyweights such as Bill Nighy to relative newcomers such as Ben Schnetzer, the film has a confidence and distinct tone right out of the gate. Based on the story of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners’ strike of 1984, the film refuses to hold back from its message of unity and was one of the few true “feel good” films of 2014. It also arguably has the best soundtrack of 2014 (yes, even better than Guardians of the Galaxy), which is always a plus in my book.
Imagine Me & You (Ol Parker)
I do not care if no one agrees with me, we need more films like Imagine Me & You where two women get to engage in the same sort of nonsensical, romantic comedy plot as any heterosexual couple. It’s sweet and engaging, the two leads (including Lena Headey of Game of Thrones fame) have buckets of chemistry, and the ending is happy! Yes! I don’t think any critics agree, and the Rotten Tomatoes score (if you care about that) isn’t promising, but it’s a genuinely enjoyable film, and for any romantic comedy enthusiasts such as myself, it’s a must-watch.
The ones I’ve mentioned barely even touch the surface, and my original, first draft of the list included the following:
There’s 2014’s film The Way He Looks about a blind teenager falling in love with his best friend , the tragic story about the loss of innocence in the Joseph Gordon-Levitt-led Mysterious Skin, Dee Ree’s powerful Pariah , and the soap opera Bad Education. There’s the Robin Williams and Nathan Lane film The Birdcage, the Alfonso Alfonso Cuarón film Y tu Mama Tambien about love that isn’t easy to define, the under-seen Lee Pace film Soldier’s Girl, and C.R.A.Z.Y., a familial drama with a LGBTQ theme. Last year also delivered us the moving Love is Strange and Lilting. I’m going to seem ridiculous for leaving off the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain. Then there’s still the musical Rent, the foreign romantic drama Kiss Me, and the movie Colin Firth should have won the Oscar for, A Single Man.
And oh look–here are the ones I haven’t seen that fellow TYF staffers were kind enough to point out:
Boys Don’t Cry, Paris is Burning, The Times of Harvey Milk, Transamerica, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and The Hours.
And I’ve still left so much out!
Happy Pride! What movies will you be watching?
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