Gay Cinema

If you know anything about me then you should have accepted this post sooner or later. It was just a matter of time before I tried to tackle to bombshell that is gay cinema, or if you want to be really politically correct; LGBT cinema. (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender.. blah blah.) Let me start with saying that as gay cinema isn't nearly as mainstream as, y'know, mainstream cinema, it's actually quite hard to obtain the good stuff. Seriously, can you remember the last publicized, widely seen and media-accepted LGBT film? Brokeback Mountain, right? Shocking. I don't claim to be a connoisseur of this particular niche in the market, but here's some I've seen recently.

BOY CULTURE.

We'll start with an actual full feature film. Boy Culture. Where do I start.. Hm, right. Boy Culture follows the almost-biographical journey of a highly successful male escort. Not throughout his whole life, but the film entails a look into a few of his relationships; those being with his two gay roommates and a older, enigmatic client. Of course, there are some twists. One of his roommates is in love with our character - who remains known as 'X' - whereas X is in love with the other. Cue trashy comments, romantic comedy like unbelievable situations, blahblah. Wrong. The film actually manages to create 3-dimensional, believable characters. Although the premise might be a tad hard to believe - 3 gay men in 1 apartment sounds a little bit.. 'eh' - but then again, the USA has a much bigger gay culture. The film manages to stay charming throughout and lacks (most of) the cliches that gay films seem to pick up. This film doesn't become a joke, but a real and engaging film. If you're interested in a romance without the slapstick, try this.

STARCROSSED

I'm sure if you've ever heard of Romeo & Juliet you'll immediately know the meaning behind the term 'star crossed lovers.' If you're not that educated (or thought Shakespeare's a load of shit) then it's a loose term meaning a relationship doomed from the start. This little mini-feature right here hits home. .. The only thing that some people might have trouble with is that this is the story of two brothers who fall completely and infallibly in love. Sexually, romantically, emotionally.. Yeah, you get it I'm sure. This film - only a whopping fifteen minutes long - managed to tackle homosexuality, coming out, incest, abuse at the home and suicide. A pretty big field for a film that, even at it's best, is quite amateurish. The good thing about this film is that it hits hard emotionally, despite the shoddy acting in some parts and the awkward script, it still managed to transcend that and make you grieve for the characters. Some people argue that the film's too short for you to invest in the characters; I disagree. If you can overcome the rather taboo issue it centers around, and the poor acting/script (only in some parts, though, the actors seem very heartfelt about their characters) then this film is, quite simply, beautiful. In it's 15 minutes it manages to challenge beliefs of very publicly unacceptable issues. To me, that's more important than a perfect script.
(I'm not gonna lie.. I cried like a baby. Multiple times.)

BEAUTIFUL THING

Hm. In a nutshell, 'Beautiful Thing' has the making of a classic gay genre to a tee. Set during a long and hot British summer, it's the coming of age of 3 people. One of them is our main character Jamie and how be begins dealing with his apparent sexuality with his best friend Stee; the abused boy next door who frequently seeks refuge with Jamie and his pub-manager mother. The third teen, and my favourite, is Leah, the african-american, drug using, school-expelled-from, Mama Cass loving girl next-door-but-one. It's a pretty typical plot within gay films, boy meets boy who is confused, boy falls in love and boy eventually stops being confused. If you're gay or know anyone who is, you/they can vouch that this is a pretty common theme. The charming thing about this film is that it's very gritty and believable, there's nothing far fetched about it so it's very easy to relate to. The acting is simple, but fine. The script is good and Leah's witticisms and quick mouth provide the comic relief. I'm not quite sure what to say about this film, it's good.. but not amazing. But if you're not in the mood for something;
a) indepth
b) a film that takes the piss out of gay people
c) something sweet without being sleazy
then it's a very good film. The end scene in particular is quite a fantastic shot given the premise of the film. Extremely sweet, truthful coming of age story. It delivers what it says on the tin.