We look back at the bt French gay cema.
Contents:
- 10 GREAT FRENCH GAY FILMS
- THE GAYT MOVI THAT AREN’T ACTUALLY GAY, OM ‘BARBIE’ AND ‘BURLQUE’ TO ‘VENOM’ AND ‘ROAD HOE’
- 16 MT-SEE CLASSIC GAY MOVI FROM BEFORE YOU WERE BORN
10 GREAT FRENCH GAY FILMS
* gay retro film *
La Cage x Foll (1978)Tradnally France has been seen as one of the most liberal untri the world, and boasts an enviable rerd on gay rights, spe the ocsnal rantgs om Brigte Bardot. We’ve kept the list to films that are easily available to watch the UK, but honourable mentn should go to The Ostrich Has Two Eggs (1957), a dated farce that at least has a sympathetic gay son, albe one who never appears on screen, and L Amiés particulièr (1964), set a boys’ boardg school. Un chant d’amour (1950)French wrer Jean Ge is one of the key figur of gay culture, whose novels (cludg Querelle of Brt), plays and says have been champned by gay and straight rears alike.
There’s nothg explicly gay here, but any film that shov Jacqu Perr a sailor su, squeez Gee Chakiris to tight whe troers and rat self wh lavish, lurid sets fely has a queer eye. Blier’s films often foc on two aquate men ung agast women (L Valss, the Osr-wng Get Out Your Handkerchiefs), and unrton of homosexualy have always lgered the air.
Here ’s ma explic, albe an ocsnally homophobic ntext – the scen where the hband is forced to don women’s clothg are particularly unfortable. The arrival of the betiful and charismatic Gill threatens both his thory and his mand on his sexualy, as an unrequed homoerotic attractn tak hold.
THE GAYT MOVI THAT AREN’T ACTUALLY GAY, OM ‘BARBIE’ AND ‘BURLQUE’ TO ‘VENOM’ AND ‘ROAD HOE’
Películas ercial temáti gay y ter gay * gay retro film *
When a woman (Amira Casar) slash her wrists a gay bar, she challeng her homosexual rcuer (Italian porn star Roc Sifedi) to spend four nights wh her to “watch me where I’m unwatchable”.
It’s easy to snigger at the portento dialogue (“The elasticy of a boy’s an don’t lie about the tightns of the lower tt”) and the assumptn of misogyny may rile male viewers, gay or straight. Most reviews foc on the showy performance of the equently naked Nilas Cazalé as the rebel whout much of a e the first chapter, but the emotnal heart li the fal third, as Morel explor the plexi of the vulnerable gay youth who mt choose between aternal loyalty and a chance at romantic happs.
L Invisibl (2012)Sébastien Lifshz is bt known for his gay featur (Prque rien, Gog South), but his ft work to date is this revealg documentary which gay men and women their 60s and 70s talk about their liv and lov. Stirrg archive footage om the 1960s shows pro-gay monstratns – tertgly, many of the straight onlookers support the liberal march. Their disarmg ankns creat an valuable oral history, while their tal of opprsn show how far gay rights have progrsed over the s.
16 MT-SEE CLASSIC GAY MOVI FROM BEFORE YOU WERE BORN
Dear lennials, the generatn born durg the '80s, the are the gay-themed movi — some wonrful, some wonrfully terrible — worth your time. * gay retro film *
Here, 11 gay movi, om the dramatic to the edic, om the absurd to the touchg, om the Weimer Republic to unified Berl, straight out of Germany. Madchen Uniform ("Girls Uniform"), 1931: While homosexualy was simply allud to the aforementned flicks, was on full display Madchen Uniform, the tale of a boardg school girl who falls for her teacher. Anrs als du und Ich ("Different From You and Me"), 1957: Not to be nfed wh the siarly gay 1919 movie Anrs als die Anrn ("Different om the Others"), this mid-20th Century narrative revolv around rich kid Kls's affair wh a lower-class peer named Maned.
And drama also ensued when the picture me out -- not only were nservativ displeased wh the gay ntent, early gay activists were livid over an endg which, spoiler alert, Kls is "cured" of his homosexualy.
Nicht r Homosexuelle ist pervers, sonrn die Suatn, r er lebt ("It Is Not The Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But The Society In Which He Liv"), 1971: Perhaps one of the most ntroversial gay featur ever to e out of Germany, or anywhere else, this mouthful of a movie and s portrayal of gay men as shallow, fashn-obssed, limp wristed weaklgs created such a stir that the viotaped cricisms om gay activists nstute their own short.
Celebrate the bt gay movi wh our list of the 50 most sential LGBTQ+ films ever ma * gay retro film *
Fstrecht r Freihe ("Fox and His Friends"), 1975: Inic New Cema filmmaker Raer Werner Fassbr directed, wrote, and starred this story of a gay man who falls for a wealthy heir.
Taxi zum Klo ("Taxi to the John", or "Taxi to the Toilet"), 1981: Frank Ripploh's semi-tobgraphil drama about a prim and proper school teacher wh a hardre after-hours sex life was groundbreakg and sensatnal for s time, and ed remas a cult classic (and one of the sexit gay films acrdg to director John Cameron Mchell). Lola und Bilidikid (Lola and Billy The Kid), 1999: Wrer/Director Kutlug Ataman had hoped to film this story of a young man tryg to rencile his homosexualy wh Islam Turkey, the ma character's fay's homeland, but he uldn't shore up enough support.
Instead, Sherry Hormann's rom- tackl homophobia sports by stg Maxiian Bckner as Ecki, a closeted soccer player who back strong after beg booted om his team for beg gay. Cast a few top-shelf gay ins there — your Bette Middlers, your Joan Crawfords, your Faye Dunaways playg Joan Crawford — and pecially have them reparteeg bchy l tearg each other to piec, and have an athetic that’s outre and unironilly mp, and you’ve got the wng-formula starter-pack for somethg licly fabulo and queer, even if not by tentnal sign.