The Value Of Milk, and The Best Gay-Themed Movies By Farr
For me, seeing "Milk" was a transformative experience because:
-It restored my belief that Hollywood can make quality pictures that have broad appeal.
-It reminded me how powerful an actor Sean Penn can be when given a role worthy of his talents- his performance here is nuanced, fearless and undeniably Oscar-worthy.
-It depicted with enormous impact what it meant to be gay 30-plus years ago, the progress we've made since in terms of society's openness towards homosexuality, and the painful, courageous steps through which it was all achieved.
I'm certainly old enough to recall the Harvey Milk/George Moscone assassinations, but predictably my memories of the incident had faded over time. Not only did this film bring it all back to me in one potent rush, but I discovered that my grown kids had absolutely no awareness of Harvey Milk, and knew precious little of his groundbreaking crusade.
Thus I realized that I not only loved this movie, I felt grateful for it.
It also put me in mind to examine outstanding gay-themed films beyond the more evident mainstream titles: "Philadelphia" (1993), "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), and from TV, "Angels In America" (2003).
Here in chronological order are just a few of my personal favorites (excluding lesbian-themed titles, due to space constraints):
Fox And His Friends (1976)- Gay carnival worker Franz "Fox" Biberkopf (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) loses his job when the police arrest his lover and close up the fairground show that employs him. Strapped for cash, Fox picks up Max (Karlheinz Böhm), an older, cultured man who helps him out. Soon, Fox is introduced to all of Max's classy friends, including one scheming fellow who sets out to seduce and fleece him. One of writer-director Fassbinder's most affecting entries, "Fox" considers the class struggle in terms of the exploitative relationship between a naive, blue-collar outsider and his predatory bourgeois lover. Fassbinder himself delivers a tragic, moving performance as a gay man swindled out of his winnings and self-esteem, a scenario partly based on the director's own experiences. Over three decades after its initial release, "Fox" remains a bold, compelling work.
La Cage Aux Folles (1979)- Nightclub owner Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and his long-time lover, Albin (Michel Serrault), a female impersonator, live a fabulous life in the sunny island paradise of St. Tropez. But when Laurent (Remy Laurent), Renato's son from a previous relationship, announces he's engaged to be married, Renato agrees to pretend he and Albin are a straight, heterosexual couple, so as not to frighten off the future in-laws, who are planning a visit. Only problem is, old habits die hard. Campy and outrageously off-kilter in the tradition of the best Hollywood comedies, "La Cage" thrives on the credibly affectionate performances of Tognazzi and Serrault, brilliant as the flamboyant Albin and his drag-queen alter ego, ZaZa. Adding to the fun is Michel Galabru, playing the stiff father-in-law-to-be who heads an organization called the Union of Moral Order!
Victor/Victoria (1982)- In 1930's Paris, struggling chanteuse Victoria (Julie Andrews) teams up with gay colleague Toddy (Robert Preston) to execute a daring masquerade: Victoria will become Victor (offstage), and then will cross-dress for her onstage act. In effect, she'll be a woman playing a man playing a woman. Victoria/Victor pulls it off, and his/her act captivates the City of Lights. When American King Marchand (James Garner) comes on the scene, he finds himself drawn to Victor, which distresses him greatly. Blake Edwards's musical triumph and a late-career showcase for real-life wife Andrews, this dazzling picture employs the venerable talents of tunesmiths Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse, not to mention reuniting Garner and Andrews almost twenty years after they made "The Americanization of Emily". The late, great Robert Preston nearly steals the film as Toddy. Now, that's entertainment.
My Beautiful Laundrette (1986)- Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is a young Pakistani Londoner who gets a shot at living the capitalist dream when his mob-connected Uncle Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey) asks him to manage a ramshackle laundromat. Soon after taking over, Omar runs into old school chum Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis), now a working-class thug affiliated with the fascist National Front. Omar hires him despite his odious ideology, and the two become partners, and lovers. Stephen Frears's endearing, intelligent "Laundrette" is a dramatic, often humorous study of bigotry, sexuality, and social mobility in Thatcher-era Britain. Warnecke and Day-Lewis are convincing as distinct social types in eighties London-the striving immigrant under pressure to acculturate on one hand and marry a family acquaintance on the other; and the skinhead who turns on his mates to pursue a friendship with a loathsome "Paki." Coaxing fine support from his multiracial cast, Frears handles it all with tenderness and insight.
The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994)- Invited to perform at a casino in the Australian outback, aging transsexual Bernadette (Terence Stamp)-still grieving for a recently deceased lover-reluctantly hops aboard a lavender school bus (dubbed "Priscilla") with drag artists Mitzi (Hugo Weaving) and Adam/Felicia (Guy Pearce). As they make the long trip to tiny, remote Alice Springs, the unusual, cross-dressing trio encounters a variety of bizarre characters, as well as open hostility. This campy, madcap road trip through the Aussie frontier was a huge hit in the U.S., loved for its cheeky humor and absurd scenarios-most involving awestruck locals encountering the gaudily clad men. Stamp delivers an aching, funny performance as a weathered transsexual who has begun to question his life's path. Weaving and Pearce are equally watchable as flamboyant drag queens with a gift for lip-synching show tunes. For a quirky, comic drama about lovable fringe types, hop aboard "Priscilla"!
Gods and Monsters (1998)- Still mentally spry but not in the best of health, elderly gay movie director James Whale (Sir Ian McKellen) strikes up a unique friendship with his new gardener, Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser), whose hunky, youthful frame cheers the aging man's aesthetic sensibilities. Under the watchful eye of cheerless Hungarian housekeeper Hanna (Lynn Redgrave), Whale draws Boone into his artistic orbit, while the easygoing young man indulges his employer's remembrance of things past. The magnificent, under-exposed "Monsters" is a moving, elegiac twist on the last days of Whale, the real-life director of "Frankenstein." McKellen offers an elegantly witty, finely graded performance as the white-haired Whale, who obviously delights in teasing Fraser's Clayton, a straight ex-Marine who agrees to pose nude for the lonely old man. The movie's flashbacks to the set of Whale's "Bride of Frankenstein" are especially rewarding for their fealty both to the original material and to the neglected artistry of the film's creator. The magic of "Monsters" is subtle, but wholly effective.
L.I.E. (2001)- Howie (Paul Dano) is an adolescent Long Islander whose mother's death and father's neglect leave him open to a variety of perverse possibilities. At first, he falls in with a group of delinquents, befriending young tough Gary (Billie Kay), who sidelines as a male hustler. Still longing for a father figure, Howie eventually finds solace and support in Big John (Brian Cox), a back-slapping former Marine who takes more than a paternal interest in young boys. A gritty, take-no-prisoners yarn, "L.I.E" offers no easy answers or resolutions to Howie's plight, and its willingness to paint life's roadblocks in shades of gray is precisely what makes it work. While certainly not for every taste, "L.I.E" is a startlingly original, credible glimpse into humanity's underbelly and the rough and tumble ways of the street. Veteran player Brian Cox is fabulous as usual, as is Dano, who injects considerable pathos into a demanding role.
For close to 2,000 more outstanding titles on DVD, visit www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com.
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Nice post. there are a great number of really good lesbian interest movies available now. Just take a look at http://www
I think the lesbian movie genre has moved away from putting out soft porn to actually making intelligent movies that address serious issues
I do not feel that many Americans have lessened their prejudice, and in many ways have increased it.
I have been unlucky in working with many prejudice people and having received harassment. The introduction of Prop 8, Palin spouting hate, Bush propaganda and blaming everyone else for our troubles, and the RNC need over the past 12 years to put Gays on the top of their "HATE LIST", has caused many to continue to act on their prejudices and continue them.
A couple of weeks ago Newt Gingrich was quoted saying that the RNC needs to build around the "HATE GAYS" theme in order to come back from this last election.
I will not sit aside and wait for people to slowly, after generations, overcome their prejudices. I feel the DEMs need to appeal D.O.M.A. and allow all of us to have equal civil rights and then, and only then, will it show that their fears were ridiculous and they have lost their prejudice battle.
It will not eliminate hate, but maybe stop some of the actions they have felt okay to do in the name of their misguided BELIEF.
How about William Friedkin's film of The Boys in the Band? Great film based on a great play.
Thanks for mentioning Fassbinder's Fox and his Friends. It's a great film, one of Fassbinder's best.
Surprisingly, many gay activists in West Germany didn't like the film because they thought it was a negative portrayal of gay people. Of course, they convienently forgot Fassbinder was gay.
How about "Victim", with Dirk Bogarde (ironically called "Britain's Rock Hudson" as a man being blackmailed for his homosexuality?
Also for your consideration, "The Naked Civil Servant" with John Hurt as Quentin Crisp.
Given what you compare it to, "Milk" is equivalent to "Citizen kane," but that does not prevent it from being a very run-of-the-milol chronicle that manages to praise its audience for assenting to beliefs with which it entered the theater.
You didn't hit the other big Gus Van Sant film "My Own Private Idaho." It's a fantastic film with great performances by River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. Seriously, Keanu Reeves actually did a good job.
That is Gus's best film. Private Idaho. Brilliant, moving film.
Is there any particular reason the nobody has mentioned 'The Boys in the Band' or am I missing something?
Check out an early AIDS movie: LONGTIME COMPANION. It shows the way a small circle of friends reacted to the gay plague.
Making Love.
Kate Jackson, Harry Hamlin, Michael Ontkean.
Two men kissing in a major hollywood movie.
A somewhat believable story that completely terrorized audiences.
Yes -- I remember seeing that movie.
In it, there's a scene where MO's character 'comes out' to KJ's character. (Sorry, it's been much too long for me to remember the character's names)
Anyway, she flies into a rage and starts hitting MO. What was truly horrifying to me (as a young gay man still struggling with coming out) was the audience's reaction. They started to cheer KO and say things like "Give it to him, Kate!"
Talk about being terrorized.
I like Greg Araki's films, but then I do like the darker themed movies. If you liked "L.I.E," then "Mysterious Skin" is one to watch. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is brilliant. Disturbing content, but a moving story of innocence lost and found.
"Mysterious Skin" was very surprising. I like the Joseph Gordon-Levitt is willing to take the very risky roles like this and owns them completely. Its really too bad that independent film makers are the only ones truly willing to take the risk.
I agree. I thought Milk was the MLK for Gay people. Seems like leaders and Hero's have to put their life on the line even death for change to happen. From Jesus Christ to HM. Also, what strikes me is that most of these leaders know they will die for their cause which is to love one another.
Loved the movie
God Bless HM
JSu Garcia
Actually, MLK had Bayard Rustin and Harvey Milk probably learned much from Rustin. The 1968 March on Washington would never have happened without Rustin. Check out the documentary called "Brother Outsider."
Milk was the best movie I saw from 2008 (and I've seen most of the awards fodder). I liked that much of it was very playful, even as Milk became an important political figure.
I've seen and enjoyed most of these movies. Gods and Monsters is extremely underappreciated; it was a magnificent movie. While McKellen's performance was not surprising (many of us already knew what a fine actor he was), Condon actually coaxed a very good performance out of Brendan Fraser, who typically isn't a good actor. Compare/contrast McKellen in Gods and Monsters, and his performance a few years earlier as Bill Kraus in And the Band Played On.
One of the great moments in Victor/Victoria was when Robert Preston flirts with Alex Karras and forces him to come crashing out of the closet.
Would be nice to see a few movies about women in here - Desert Hearts is good but a bit dated.
How could I forget..."
High Art, Aimee & Jaguar, Tipping the Velvet, Go FIsh, Fire, The Hunger, Boys Don't Cry, If These Walls Could Talk 2, Fried Green Tomatoes, Ma Vie En Rose...
When Night Is Falling (1995)
"To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar", "The Birdcage" and "In and Out" are some others.
PS: "Milk" isn't exactly a Hollywood movie, since Gus Van Sant lives in Portland.
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