The Gays of Future Past: Different from the Others (1919)

This week I watched a movie that really got my film geek juices flowing! It's that perfect junction between film and history that makes me want to sit down and write a blog post. Aren't you lucky?

The film is Different from the Others (1919) and the fact that I was able to see it at all is a miracle. Different is credited as one of the first films to sympathetically depict homosexuality. It was co-written by and stars well-known German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld and was intended as a sort of PSA against the German law Paragraph 175 which made it illegal for men to bonk men.

In the film, famous violinist Paul Korner (Conrad Veidt one year before he would rocket to fame in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and many years before he would be immortalized playing Major Strasser in Casablanca (1942)) falls in love with starstruck pupil Kurt (Fritz Schulz) and soon the two are inseparable.

This comes to the attention of call-boy turned blackmailer Franz (Reinhold Schunzel... which sounds like a tasty German breakfast pastry) who threatens Paul with exposure of his illegal lifestyle if he doesn't cough up some marks.

Hirschfeld appears as himself to explain to Paul (and the audience) that there are many facets of human sexuality- and that homosexuality is as natural and as moral as heterosexuality... IN 1919!!! ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO!!! We've literally been trying to explain this to everybody since men wore spats!

Different was assumed lost because once the Nazis took power every available copy was burned along with Hirschfeld's entire Institute of Sexual Research library in Berlin. But luckily a copy was found in the Ukraine in the 1970's so now we can see this unique attempt by a film to try and sway public and political opinion. It's like the Philadelphia (1993) of 1919.

The film that exists is just a fragment. There are numerous title cards and still photos to explain what we can't see. But what is here is remarkable. There are no passionate makeouts or man-on-man sexfests. The passion and longing are kept to glances and touch- and the good ol' indicators of homosexuality are refined culture, effeminate hand gestures and hands on hips... and kicky silk dressing robes.

I was struck by how similarly gays are filmed in some recent releases: The effeminate, bookish out gay kid in Love, Simon (2018); the longing glances that make up for any actual gay sexual activity in Bohemian Rhapsody (2019) (and if the trailer for Rocketman (2019) is any indicator, there will be lots of gay eyeball-only action for Taron Egerton too); the one-night hand-holding that takes the place of more carnal intimacy in Boy Erased (2018). 

While we do have Call Me by Your Name (2017), God's Own Country (2017), and Todd Haynes to put the sex in gay sexuality, it feels to me that there has been some neutering of the gay experience in popular Hollywood product.

It is ironic that a movie that was made when being gay was literally illegal, shares so much in common with gay movies made in today's more permissive culture.

We're here. We've been here. Get used to it.

Lance's Werthwhile Movie 2018 Movie Countdown

It's that time of year again when I look back at the movies I saw this year that made me all fuzzy, fractured, or freaked out.

Here (in no particular order) are the movies that made me squeee in 2018:

La Habanera (1937)/All That Heaven Allows (1955)/Written on the Wind (1956)

I went on a Douglass Sirk-et this year. Sirk is the Master of Melodrama! The Titan of Technicolor! The Sultan of Soap Opera! I hadn't seen two of his biggest films, Heaven and Wind, and they not only didn't disappoint, they enchanted me. So I jumped at the chance to see one of his very early Austrian works, La Habanera. Once you get past the fact that everyone's speaking German in Puerto Rico, this film proves that Sirk had an early affinity for the decadence of melodrama on film.

Shoeshine (1946)

I'm a hug fan of Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948). In particular, his postwar verite style really strikes a chord with me both visually and dramatically. When you're literally shooting your movie in the ruins of a war-torn city, it adds a little something' somethin'. It really works in Shoeshine. Two young Roman boys get by the only way they know how- shining shoes and dealing in contraband. It's a De Sica film, so they get caught and wind-up in a juvenile facility that mixes Lord of the Flies with Orange is the New Black. The film is tragic, and beautiful, showing the tenderness between young men who have nothing but each other... and a horse.

Three Identical Strangers (2018)

This documentary about three triplets who were separated at birth might actually be my favorite film of the year. (No, it's not you Roma (2018).) Director Tim Wardle expertly unspools this story in such a way that around every corner is a new, shocking surprise. I literally yelled at the screen when I saw it. Look for this one to give Won't You Be My Neighbor (2018) a run for its money for Best Documentary at this year's Oscars.

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Spencer Tracy, Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Richard Widmark, Maximillian Schell, and even a pre-Trek William Shatner and a pre-Hogan's Heroes Werner Klemperer. Now THAT'S a cast. I'd heard about Stanley Kramer's Oscar-winning drama about the infamous Nuremberg Trials, but the three hour running time often kept me from slipping it into my DVD player. I'm glad I finally did. The performances are a primer in film acting and the concentration camp footage wrenching. Before this film, the footage (some of which was shot by director George Stevens) had never been shown in public. The message of questioning what we are told to do when we know it is wrong resonates across 57 years so clearly. It makes this movie feel less like a history lesson and more like a warning.

God's Own Country (2017)

While everyone was falling over themselves about Call Me By Your Name (2017) this English gay indie gave me all the feels that were missing for me in Name. You can read all about my dirty thoughts here.

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Director Taika Waititi hit a home run last year with Thor: Ragnarok (2017). But three years earlier he  directed, wrote, and starred in a real comic gem. What We Do is a mockumentary about a group of vampires living in New Zealand. The Real World meets Twilight as these roommates deal with girlfriends, chore wheels, and being undead. It's a bloodsucking hoot- and will soon be an FX TV show.

The future's so bright for Taika, he'd better wear shades.

Ex Machina (2014)

Ex Machina does what sci-fi does better than any other genre- expose our humanity (or lack thereof) through the lens of the machines we create. Caleb (the pleasingly pale Domhall Gleason) is a hotshot programmer who wins the chance to visit the wilderness compound of tech guru and self-imposed hermit Nathan (furry Oscar Isaac). Caleb is humbled to be tasked by this genius to help test his latest cyborg, Ava (the partially there Alicia Vikander.)

But he quickly discovers that he is just another one of the guinea pigs in Nathan's heartless experiment. The visual effects for Ava are perfection. But their Oscar-winning wizardry does not detract from the compelling performances and the harrowing story of a world perhaps not so far away from the technology-obsessed time we currently text in.

The Shape of Water (2017)

I've gotten a lot of flack from people I respect on this Oscar-winning movie. I stand by my original blog post. Shape of Water is beautiful to look at and is a loving opus to classic movies,  re-transmitting their power to stir our imaginations to a new generation. Add in uncharacteristic performances from Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, and Richard Jenkins and you have a film that I think is better than Call Me By Your Name... but maybe not Get Out (2017). I loved it. So there.

The Thin Red Line (1998)

Terrence Malik isn't so much of a film director, as a film poet. What he has done in each of his cinematic creations is transmit feelings and emotions not necessarily through a tight plot line, but through powerful, fragmented imagery.

The complicated and conflicted realities of the Vietnam War seem to be tailor-made for the Malik treatment: the loyalty of a commander to his men, the natural beauty of the country, the desire to help human beings, the urge to rip their bodies apart with machine guns, the fear of dying, and the power of hope- no matter how futile.

Thin Red Line is my favorite Vietnam war film with perhaps the exception of Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987). The uber-talented cast under the guidance of this exceptional director brings the emotions of Vietnam to vivid life- not to shock us- but to allow us to experience them.

Coco (2017)

This one goes under the category of Films That Make Lance Bawl Like a Baby. Sure the animation that takes inspiration from Dia de Muertos and Mexican culture and art is ravishing. But it's the heart of this movie that stays with you. I challenge anyone to listen to little Miguel sing the song "Remember Me" to his failing great grandmother without getting misty. We all have family members that have passed on- and Coco reminds us that passing on what made them special is the only way to keep them with us.

Black Panther (2018)

I'm tired of the super hero genre. The stories all sound the same to me. The various origin stories that always portray conflicted heroes coming from a place of otherness while the supermodel bodies and faces of the heroes themselves make it impossible for me to relate. More things blow-up than you can keep track of. Superheroes save the entire planet, proudly standing over the unknown number of bodies of citizens who were vaporized without so much as a screen credit. And somehow I'm supposed to feel safer after this.

So imagine my shock when I watched Black Panther with utter and complete enjoyment. Maybe it's the amazing African-inspired styling of the costumes, set, and gadgets. Maybe it's the amazing black faces that we rarely see in such numbers unless we're watching a slavery epic.

Maybe it's the equal-pairing of women and men in this world- both sexes given the ability to rule and kick-ass. Maybe it's Michale B. Jordan's half-naked body. Whatever, it is- Black Panther feels fresh in a genre that needed a real shake-up. I suspect Black Panther will give A Star is Born (2018) some heavy competition at this year's Oscar's.
Wakanda forever indeed!

To all my readers and friends- may 2019 give you all the movie thrills you desire!

God's Own Country or Brokeback Yorkshire

I love the English. There's just something about that accent that turns my spine to custard. So it's no surprise that I love gay English movies. Maurice (1987), Beautiful Thing (1996), Weekend (2011), and Handsome Devil (2016) not only provide plenty of eye and ear candy, but there's something about how the emotionally reserved English tell stories about gayness that feels so poignant and vital.
You may add God's Own Country (2017) to that list.

GOC takes place in West Yorkshire where the only thing tougher than the topography and the accent is the people. Johnny (the lanky and somber Josh O'Connor) is right well fooked. He is trapped working on his family's struggling cow and sheep farm. His mother left the scene years ago and his dad is a grouchy, cane-wielding overlord (Ian Hart) taken care of by his hard-nosed Nana (Gemma Jones). And if all that's not bad enough, Johnny's in the closet. Not known for its thriving gay community, West Yorkshire is as much a prison for Johnny's heart as his body. In spite of all that, Johnny's not much of a sympathetic character.

The first glimpse we have of dear Johnny is him unloading last night's alcohol into the toilet. He's an asshole drunk who shouts like a bully and sulks like the world's worst teenager. With all the ardor of a dog in heat, he screws a local in a cow trailer- spit and shoves filling-in for romantic gestures. Johnny believes his love life to be as grim as everything else around him, so there is no chance that he will fall in love with these brief conquests. Until Gheorghe.

The family hires a Romanian immigrant to help with lambing season. Gheorghe (the striking Alec Secareanu) is a man of few words and a tender knack for birthing lambs. Johnny and Gheorghe are sent off to the far reaches of the farm to manage the flock and in no time, Johnny attempts his typical backroom style hook-up.

But Gheorghe will not be treated as a conquest and is powerful enough to force Johnny to let down his walls and let him inside. For the first time Johnny experiences soul-stirring passion with another man- but is there any hope for these two lovers in this place?

Directed by Francis Lee the film is beautiful in its bleakness and brevity. Images of touching and glances communicate more than any of the character dialogue. This unadorned quality leaves an air of fresh reality, with no grand speeches or orchestral flourishes to sweeten this difficult love story.

GOC came out in January, 2017 at the Sundance Film Festival and was overshadowed by the other big gay movie in the festival, Call Me by Your Name. GOC and CMBYN are interesting films for comparison. Where CMBYN feels like an inevitable romance in a rarefied Italian countryside, GOC is at times a painful struggle in an unforgiving landscape. What CMBYN hides in dialogue, GOC reveals in silence. Where CMBYN uses fruit allegory and eschews images of the object of desire, GOC strips down the male form unashamedly. Even though I think CMBYN sucked all the air out of the gay film room last year, it's great that the film industry is making such diverse views of gay life- and doing it so well. It has indeed gotten better.